UNJVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


THE    SAINT    LAWRENCE 

Its  Basin  and  Border-Lands 


7'.6^  S  A  I  N  T 
LAWRENCE 

Its  Basin  (Sj^' Border-Lands 


T^h  e  Story  of  their  Discovery 
Exploration   and  Occupation 


By  SAMUEL    EDWARD    DAWSON 

LITT.D.,  F.R.S.C. 
Author  of   The    Voyages   of  the   Cabots,  Canada  and  Ne'w- 
foundland,  A  Study  of  ^The  Princess''   of  Lord   Tennyson,  Etc. 


With  Illustrations  from  Drawings.^  Photo- 
graphs, and  Maps,  and  with  Map  in  Col- 
ouRs    hy    J.    G.    BARTHOLOMEW 


l(f  $^Z 


New    York:     FREDERICK     A. 
STOKES   COMPANY,  Publishers 


Copyright,  IQOS, 
By  Frederick  A.  Stokes  Company 

Published  in  April,  1905 


\0'230 

-J)  3a 


TO  THE  RIGHT   HONOURABLE 

SIR  WILFRID   LAURIER 

P.C,  G.C.M.G.,  D.C.L.,  ETC. 
PRIME  MINISTER  OF  THE  DOMINION  OF  CANADA, 

THE    FOREMOST    REPRESENTATIVE    IN    THE     PRESENT    DAY     OF    THE 

PEOPLE     WHOSE     DEEDS     ARE     RECORDED     HEREIN;    WHO,    BY 

THEIR   COURAGE  AND   ENDURANCE,  WON   TO  CIVILIZATION 

THE     WILDERNESS    OF    THE     GREAT     TRANSVERSE 

VALLEY    OF    THE    CONTINENT    AND    ITS 

BORDER    LANDS, 

THIS  BOOK  IS,  BY  KIND  PERMISSION,  RESPECTFULLY 

DEDICATED 


PREFACE 

In  the  following  pages  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 

set  forth  in  order  the  chief  facts  relating  to  the  discovery 

and  exploration  of  the  northeastern  part  of  the  continent 

of  North  America.     It  is  the  nearest  to  Europe,  and  has 

an  interest  of  its  own,  inasmuch  as  it  was  the  first  part 

of  the  main  continent  to  be  reached  from  the  Old  World. 

No  attempts  to  penetrate  beyond  the  sea  coast  of  this 

region   have  been   recorded,   until   the   Cartier  voyages 

opened  up  the  Gulf  and  the  River  St,  Lawrence  as  a 

broad   waterway   leading  to   the   mysterious   West,   or, 

as  often  called  in  the  language  of  that  day,  to  the  East. 

The  limits  of  exploration  remained  for  sixty  years  after 

K  Cartier  at  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Montreal,  eighty- 

^  six  miles  above  the  head  of  tide  water.    The  foundation 

\    of  Quebec  by  Champlain  in  1608    initiated  a  new  series 

r\  of  explorations.    These  extended  over  the  whole  basin  of 

\the  St.  Lawrence  and  over  the  water-parting  into  the 

1  basin  of  the  Mississippi  contiguous  to  it.     The  story  is 

full  of  geographic   and   historic   interest,   and   abounds 

with  romantic  adventure.    This  also  forms  a  part  of  our 

theme. 

To  narrate  intelligibly  the  achievements  of  these  ex- 
plorers, it  is  necessary,  incidentally,  to  dwell  upon  the 
geography  of  these  regions.  Following  up  the  avenue  of 
"  the  River  of  Canada,"  the  French  pioneers  outflanked 
the  barrier  of  the  Alleghenies,  "  the  endless  mountains  " 
which  so  long  retarded  discovery  at  the  south.  They 
passed  readily  up  into  the  great  fresh-water  seas  in 
the  centre  of  the  continent  and  over  the  portages  at  the 
heads  of  their  tributaries  into  the  adjoining  basins  at  the 
north,  the  west,  and  the  south,  unlocking  all  the  river 
communications  of  the  interior.  Reference  must  also 
frequently  be  made  to  that  confederacy  of  astute  and  poli- 
tic savages  which,  seated  on  the  water-parting  of  the 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


St.  Lawrence,  Ohio,  Susquehanna,  and  Hudson  rivers, 
held  for  a  hundred  years  the  balance  between  the  English 
and  French  nations  and  stamped  its  impress  on  the  des- 
tiny of  the  continent. 

Nor  is  it  possible  to  present  the  subject  without  dwell- 
ing upon  the  progressive  occupation  of  those  immense 
territories,  where  the  steam  whistle  has  replaced  the  war- 
whoop,  and  where  great  cities  have  grown  up  on  the 
portages;  where  the  enormous  silences  of  inland  oceans, 
once  scarcely  ruffled  by  the  wary  dip  of  the  paddles  of 
some  war  party  gliding  upon  its  bloody  errand,  now 
resound  to  the  blare  of  gigantic  and  demonstrative  whale- 
backs,  or  of  steam  tugs  towing  long  trains  of  loaded 
barges.  These  are  themes  worthy  of  more  adequate  pre- 
sentment than  they  can  receive  within  the  limits  of  a 
single  volume.  They  are  subjects  of  never-ending  inter- 
est, for  when  the  New  World  was  discovered  the  Old 
World  itself  had  recently  been  reborn,  and,  alive  to  all 
new  influences,  regarded  the  new  continent  with  a  newly 
awakened  curiosity  and  a  pardonable  credulity — for  what 
might  not  be  possible  in  a  world  unknown  to  Aristotle 
and  Ptolemy ! 

Ottawa,  December,  1^04. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

List  of  Illustrations xix 

GEOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH 

Newfoundland — Acadia — The   St.  Lawrence  Basin  .       .       xxiii 
CHAPTER   I 

INTRODUCTORY 

Early  charts — Estimation  of  longitude  and  latitude — Revival 
of  Greek  science — Geography  in  the  Dark  Ages — Geog- 
raphy at  the  era  of  the  Renaissance — Columbus — Dis- 
coveries of  the  Portuguese — Legendary  islands  of  the 
Atlantic — Behaim's  globe — Rapid  extension  of  explora- 
tion  I 

CHAPTER   H 

JOHN   CABOt'S  FIRST  VOYAGE — DISCOVERY 

Discovery  of  the  mainland — Previous  attempts  of  Bristol 
sailors — Cabot  at  Bristol — First  voyage — Cathay  the 
objective  point — Variation  of  the  compass  in  1497 — 
Nature  of  the  country  found — Cape  Breton  the  landfall 
— La  Cosa's  map — Cape  Race  the  key  to  North  Ameri- 
can geography — John  Cabot's  testimony — Sebastian 
Cabot's  testimony — Historic  importance  of  the  question     13 

CHAPTER  HI 

JOHN   CABOT'S   SECOND  VOYAGE — DISAPPOINTMENT 

John  Cabot's  brief  triumph — New  letters  patent — Expedition 
on  a  large  scale — Merchandise  for  Cathay — Sebastian 
Cabot's  experience — His  subsequent  career — First  record 
of  ice — Extent  of  the  coasting — Robert  Thome's  evi- 
dence— First  and  second  voyages  contrasted — Miscon- 
ceptions as  to  Sebastian  Cabot — His  service  in  Spain 
and  return  to  England — Neglect  of  English  historians    .    35 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   IV 

THE  CORTE-REALS  AND  PORTUGUESE  DISCOVERY 

PAGE 

The  Golden  era  of  Portugal— The  Corte-Real  family— First 
expedition  under  Caspar  Corte-Real  to  the  North — 
The  different  voyages  confused — Second  expedition  of 
Caspar  Corte-Real  to  the  West  and  Northwest — A  slave 
coast  in  America — Caspar  Corte-Real  does  not  return — 
Unsuccessful  efforts  of  his  brothers  to  learn  his  fate — 
Maps  of  Cantino  and  Reinel 47 

CHAPTER   V 

MYTHICAL  PRE-COLUMBIAN   DISCOVERIES 

Discovery  of  America  easy  in  theory — Claimed  for  all  western 
nations — Claims  of  the  Portuguese — of  the  Azoreans — of 
the  Basques — of  the  Bretons — of  the  Normans — Atlas  of 
Andrea  Bianco — Stokafixa — Origin  of  the  name  Labra- 
dor— of  the  name  Bacallaos — Beothiks  (Red  Indians) 
of  Newfoundland — Fishing  vessels,  Breton,  Portuguese, 
Basque,  early  on  the  coast 59 

CHAPTER   VI 

PRIVATE  ADVENTURERS — CABOT  TO  CARTIER 

The  Cabot  patents  superseded — English  adventurers  with 
Azorean  partners — Slow  development  of  English  fish- 
eries— Sebastian  Cabot  not  concerned  in  English  enter- 
prises— John  Rut's  voyage — Voyage  of  Master  Hore  and 
the  lawyers — Bretons  and  Normans  flock  to  the  fisheries 
— Prominence  of  the  Portuguese  in  early  days — Fagun- 
dez — Breton  and  Portuguese  name's  on  coast — Earliest 
voyages  of  French  and  Spanish  Basques    .        .        .        .74 

CHAPTER   VII 

THE  VOYAGE  OF  VERRAZANO 

Disbelki.  in  the  continuity  of  the  American  coast — Francis 
ITseeks  a  share  in  tlie  New  World — Commencement  of 
national  navies — I'Vcnch  corsairs  prey  on  Spanish  com- 
merce—Juan Vcrrazano— Engaged  to  lead  an  expedition 


CONTENTS  xi 

PAGE 

for  France — He  sails  to  the  West — Extent  of  his  voyage 
— His  own  account  to  the  King — Unreasonable  doubts  of 
its  authenticity — The  sea  of  Verrazano — He  sails  on 
another  expedition  and  is  not  heard  of  again — Juan  Ver- 
razano a  different  person  from  Juan  Florin,  who  was 
hanged  by  the  Spaniards 87 


CHAPTER   Vni 

••  THE  VOYAGE  OF   STEPHEN   GOMEZ 

Gomez  a  Portuguese  pilot  in  the  service  of  Spain — He  deserts 
Magellan — Engaged  by  Charles  V.  to  search  for  a  cen- 
tral opening  to  the  South  Sea — Sails  in  the  winter  of 
1524-25 — Extent  of  his  exploration — Carries  back  a  cargo 
of  slaves — The  coast  of  Acadia  examined  from  the 
Penobscot  eastward — The  Bay  of  Fundy — The  Gut  of 
Canso — The  Island  of  St.  John — Cape  Breton — Cape 
Smoky — Cape  North — The  Bay  of  the  Bretons 


CHAPTER    IX 

RESULTS    OF    EXPLORATION    UP    TO    JACQUES    CARTIER'S    FIRST   VOYAGE 

Atlantic    seaboard    completely    explored — Viegas'    map — De- 
fects   of   the    early    maps — The    Gulf    of    St.    Lawrence  . 
unknown — Philippe  de  Chabot,  Seigneur  de  Brion — Car- 
tier  selected  to  explore  for  a  western  passage  to  Asia — 
Cartier's  birth  and  previous  life 114 

CHAPTER   X 

cartier's   FIRST  VOYAGE,    1 534 

Sources  of  information — "  Relation  Originale  " — Departure 
from  St.  Malo — Arrival  at  Bonavista — Coast  blocked  with 
field  ice — Strait  of  Belle-Isle — Course  inside  the  Gulf 
— Arrival  at  Blanc  Sablon ;  the  first  point  of  the  present 
province  of  Quebec — Inner  coasts  of  Labrador  and  New- 
foundland— Discovery  of  the  Magdalen  group— North 
coast  of  Prince  Edward  Island  supposed  to  be  mainland 
— Coast  of  New  Brunswick  at  Miramichi — Chaleur  Bay 
— Gaspe — Anticosti — Return  to  St.  Malo.  Note — The 
birds  mentioned  by   Cartier 121 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    XI 
cartier's  second  voyage,  1535-36 

PAGE 

Second  expedition  commissioned — Cartier  sails  May  19, 
1535 — Rendezvous  at  Blanc  Sablon — Course  through  the 
Guff — Arrives  at  the  kingdom  of  Saguenay — Indian  inter- 
preters at  home — Grand  river  of  Hochelaga  reached — 
Pushes  on  to  Canada — The  three  kingdoms — Arrives  at 
Stadacona — Beauty  of  the  country — The  lord  of  Canada 
— Winter  quarters  chosen — Proceeds  to  Hochelaga, 
— Indian  jugglery — Passes  Ochelay — Reception  at  Hoche- 
laga— Productions  of  the  country — Cartier's  religious 
service — His  view  from  the  mountain  (Montreal)  — 
Return  to  Stadacona — Winter  quarters  on  the  St. 
Charles — Winter  sufferings — Scurvy — Despair  of  the 
crew — The  wonderful  tree  of  healing — Arrival  of  spring 
— Departure  for  St.  Malo — Donnacona  and  his  chiefs 
carried  off — Newfoundland  proved  to  be  anisland  .        .  151 

CHAPTER   XII 

SOME  DISPUTED   POINTS   OF   CARTIER'S   VOYAGES 

The  Xudian  nations-jof  the  St.  Lawrence  valley — Algonquins 
— Huron-Iroquoisr— The  healing  tree.  Ameda — The  chap- 
iSins  of  Cartier's  expeditions — Etymology  of  the  word 
Canada — The  Ste.  Croix  of  Cartier's  winter  quarters    .  179 

CHAPTER   XIII 

cartier's   third  voyage — ROBERVAL — I54I-43 

Delay  of  Cartier's  third  expedition — Cartier  commissioned, 
October,  1540 — Disgrace  of  Admiral  Chabot  de  Brion — 
Cartier's  commission  revoked — New  commission  places 
Roberval  in  command — Cartier  sails  in  May,  1541 — 
Roberval's  delays — Jealousy  of  Spain — Cartier  estab- 
lishes himself  at  Cap  Rouge — Revisits  Hochelaga — 
Examines  the  Lachine  Rapids — Indian  distrust — Rober- 
val  sails  in  April,  1542 — Cartier  encounters  him  in  St. 
Johns  harbour — Cartier  sails  away  to  France  and  Rober- 
val proceeds  up  the  river — Roberval  establishes  his  winter 
quarters — His  harsh  rule — His  incompetence — Visits 
Hochelaga — Return  to  France  in  1543 — The  story  of 
Marguerite  and  the  Isle  of  Demons — Cartier's  life  and 
character.  Note — Cartographical  results  of  the  Cartier 
Voyages 192 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER   XIV 

CARTIER  TO   CHAMPLAIN 

PAGE 

Pr;^atft  traders  in  the-Gulf  and  River — Cartier's  discoveries 
sTiowir"!!!'  tHemaps  reproduced  in  the  "  Bibliotheca  Lin- 
desiana " — The  Cabot  map  of  A.  D.  1544 — Jean  Alle- 
fonsce — Breton  and  Norman  fishermen  and  traders — 
Neglect  of  the  French  Court — Basques  upon  the  coast — 
Decline  of  Portugal — English  enterprise  aroused — Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert's  expedition — English  begin  to  enter 
the  Gulf — La  Roche's  expedition — Convicts  abandoned 
on  Sable  Island — Legend  of  the  Franciscan  monk  .        .  215 

CHAPTER    XV 

SAMUEL  DE  CHAMPLAIN 

Critical  point  of  Canadian  history,  A.  D.  1600 — ^^Chau'nji  "> 
builds  a  trading  post  at  Tadoussac — Pont-Grave — Ce  / 
Chastes — Samuel  de  Champlain  enters  upon  his  life 
work — His  family  and  previous  history — First  arrival  in 
Canada — At  Tadoussac — He  goes  up  the  river  to  the  sites 
of  Quebec  and  Montreal — Returns  to  Tadoussac  and  ex- 
plores the  lower  river — The  Sieur  Prevert's  marvellous 
reports — Champlain  returns  to  France — Death  of  De 
Chastes — De  Monts  takes  his  place  and  is  commissioned 
Lieutenant  Governor  for  the  King — Opposition  of  the 
merchants — Character  of  De  Monts — De  Monts  sails  for 
Acadia,  1604 — Champlain  joins  the  expedition  and  ex- 
plores the  Acadian  coasts — Lescarbot — Basin  of  Anna- 
polis Royal — St.  John  harbour  and  river — Settlement  at 
Ste.  Croix — Poutrincourt — Colony  removed  to  Port 
Royal — L'Ordre  de  Bon-Temps — Commercial  jealousy 
thwarts  De  Monts'  plans — Poutrincourt's  family  clings 
to  Acadia.  Notes — Meaning  of  the  name  Acadia — An- 
napolis Basin — Settlement  at  St.  Sauveur — Early  English 
voyages    to   the    New    England    coast        ....  231 

CHAPTER   XVI 

CHAMPLAIN   IN   QUEBEC 

Champlain  the  founder  of  Canada — Settlement  at  Quebec  in 
1608 — First  winter  at  Quebec — War  between  Algonquins 
and  Iroquois — Necessity  of  siding  with  the  Algonquins — 
War  party  against  the  Mohawks — Lake  Champlain  dis- 
covered— Defeat  of  the  Iroquois — Second  conflict,  at  the 


xlv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Richelieu — Assassination  of  Henry  IV.,  the  patron  of 
Champlain  and  De  Monts — Champlain  in  1611  goes  to  the 
Saiilt — Makes  a  clearing  on  the  site  of  the  city  of  Mon- 
treal—  ilc  meets  the  Indians  of  the  Ottawa  and  lake 
regions — Champlain  returns  to  France — Continued  hos- 
tility of  merchants — Company  reorganised — Champlain 
arrives  at  the  Sault — Proceeds  up  the  Ottawa  River  to 
find  the  Northern  Sea — Narrow  escape  at  the  Chute  a 
Blondeau — Tjtie  site  of  the  present  capital  described — 
Arrives  at  Allumette  Island — Vignau's  falsehoods  ex- 
posed— Disappointment  of  Champlain — He  returns  to 
France — Conciliates  opposition  and  brings  out  Recollet 
missionaries 253 


CHAPTER   XVII 

CHAMPLAIN   IN   ONTARIO 

Champlain  goes  up  the  Ottawa — His  course  by  Lalte  Nipis- 
sing  and  French  River  into  Lake  Huron — The  Huron 
nation — The  Huron  territory — The  great  war-party  as- 
sembles— Route  down  the  Otonabee  and  Trent — Lake 
Ontario  crossed — The  Iroquois  territory — Terror  inspired 
by  Iroquois  among  surrounding  nations — Champlain  and 
the  Hurons  assault  an  Onondaga  town  without  success — 
Retreat — War-party  breaks  up  and  Champlain  unable  to 
reach  Quebec — He  visits  the  country  between  Kingston 
and  Ottawa — Returns  to  Huron  country  and  winters 
there — Visits  the  Tobacco  nation  and  the  Ottawas — Re- 
turns to  Quebec  in  May,  1616 — Extent  of  Qiamplain's 
explorations  in  Canada — Religious  differences — Hugue- 
nots and  Jesuits — Moderation  and  constancy  of  Cham- 
plain          273 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

EXPLORATION    OF   THE   WEST,    FROM    CHAMPLAIN    TO   THE   DISPERSION 
OF  THE   HURONS 

Explorers  trained  under  Champlain  continue  the  work — 
piiy-i.-.i  <■.-.», irr.c--  f,f  the  couutry  favour  exploration — 
TtU'  <  rs   lead   the   way — Adventures   of 

Eti<  !  1  i  1        'Met    missionaries    commence    their 

labours — Assistance  of  the  Jesuits  invited — Missionaries 
established  in  the  Huron  country — They  visit  the  Neutral 
nation — Quebec  taken  by  the  English — Champlain  and 
most  of  the  colonists   carried  to   England — Canada   re- 


CONTENTS  XV 

PAGE 

stored  to  France — Return  of  Champlain — Jesuits  the  only 
missionaries  allowed  to  return — Nicollet  starts  to  discover 
the  Great  South  Sea — Jesuits  resume  missions  to  the 
Hurons — Michilimackinac — Lake  Michigan  discovered — 
Green  Bay  or  Bale  des  Puants — The  Winnebago  nation 
of  Dakota  stock — Nicollet  reaches  the  water-parting  of 
the  Mississippi  basin — Jesuit  mission  to  the  Hurons — 
St.  Mary  on  the  Wye — Sault  Ste.  Marie  visited  by  the 
Jesuits — The  Lake  system  begins  to  be  understood — Bre- 
boeuf  among  the  Neutrals — Premonitions  of  martyrdom — 
Destruction  of  the  Huron  nation 289 


CHAPTER   XIX 

EXPLORATION  RESUMED  AND  POSSESSION   TAKEN  FOR  FRANCE 

The  Huron  country  abandoned — Fear  of  the  Iroquois — 
Jesuits  and  Huron  converts  retire  to  Quebec — Desolation 
and  massacre  extend  over  the  West — Peace,  in  1654, 
permits  resumption  of  the  fur  trade — Missions  resumed 
— Radisson  and  Chouart — Radisson  among  the  Iroquois 
— Radisson  and  Chouart  on  Lake  Michigan — Pass  Sault 
Ste.  Marie  into  Lake  Superior — Make  a  trading  post  at 
Chequamegon  Bay — Explore  the  country  over  the  water- 
parting — Return  to  Three  Rivers — Second  expedition  of 
Chouart  and  Radisson — They  resolve  to  discover  the 
Sea  of  the  North — Go  up  to  Lake  Superior  to  Chequame- 
gon Bay — They  are  conducted  by  Cree  Indians  to  Hud- 
son's Bay — Return  and  subsequent  adventures — Father 
Menard  perishes  south  of  Lake  Superior — Father  Al- 
louez  founds  a  mission  at  Chequamegon  Bay  and  on  Lake 
Michigan — De  Tracy  and  Talon  arrive  in  Canada — Iro- 
quois sue  for  peace — The  route  by  Lake  Ontario  opened 
— The  Sulpicians  commence  to  establish  missions — Expe- 
dition of  Dollier  and  Galinee — They  find  an  earthly  para- 
dise on  Lake  Erie — Return  by  Michilimackinac — St. 
Lusson  is  sent  to  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  and  takes  cere- 
monial possession  for  France 312 

CHAPTER  XX 

JOLLIET  AND  LA  SALLE — THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY  UNVEILED 

All  westward  routes  opened — Louis  Jolliet  and  Father  Mar- 
quette— They  start  for  the  Mississippi — Fox  and  Wiscon- 
sin portage — Arrive  at  the  prairie  region — The  Missis- 
sippi  reached — Paddle   down   as   far  as  the   Arkansas — 


xvl  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Return  by  the  Qiicago  portage — Marquette  remains  on 
Lake  Michigan — Jolliet  goes  down  to  Quebec — His  maps 
and  papers  lost — Death  of  Marquette — St.  Ignace  de 
Michilimackinac — Robert  Cavelier  de  La  Salle — His  post 
at  Lachine — Starts  with  Galinee  and  Dollier,  but  separates 
from  them — Discovers  the  Ohio — Controversy  about  the 
discovery  of  the  Mississippi — Arrival  of  Frontenac — La 
Salle's  western  schemes  supported  by  Frontenac — The 
first  step,  Fort  Frontenac — Henri  de  Tonty — La  Salle  at 
Niagara — He  builds  the  Griffon  for  the  upper  lakes — 
Loss  of  the  Griffon — La  Salle's  indomitable  spirit  strug- 
gles against  disaster — Overcomes  all  obstacles — Fort 
Crevecoeur  destroyed — La  Salle  reaches  the  Mississippi — 
Goes  down  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  takes  possession 
for  France 341 

CHAPTER   XXI 

HENNEPIN  AND  DULHUT — WESTERN  EXPLORATION   CONTINUED 

Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence  divide  south  of  Lake  Superior 
— Wild  rice  region — The  Dakota  nation  reached — Henne- 
pin on  the  Illinois — He  reaches  the  Mississippi — His 
pretended  discoveries — 'His  captivity  among  the  Sioux — 
Weeping  Indians — Rescue  by  Dulhut — Mendacity  of 
Hennepin — Daniel  de  Greysolon,  Sieur  Dulhut  arrives 
in  Canada — He  establishes  himself  at  the  head  of  Lake 
Superior — His  adventurous  life — His  explorations  to  the 
extreme  western  limit  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley     .        .  2'^^ 


CHAPTER   XXII 

EXPLORATION   TO  THE   NORTH    AND   EAST 

Champlain's  early  attempt  to  reach  the  Sea  of  the  North — 
The  quest  continued — Chief  routes  from  Canada  to  Hud- 
son's Bay — Expedition  of  De  Troyes — Father  Buteux 
killed  on  the  St.  Maurice — Unrecognised  devotion  of  the 
missionaries  to  the  North  and  East — Lake  St.  John  dis- 
covered— Fathers  Druillettes  and  Dablon  start  for  Hud- 
son's Bay — They  turn  back  at  Lake  Nekouba — Talon 
sends  Father  Albanel — He  reaches  Hudson's  Bay — Finds 
the  English  flag  there — Injustice  of  the  Governor  of 
Canada  to  Chouart  and  Radisson — They  transfer  their 
services  to  England — Lead  Gillam's  expedition  to  Ru- 
pert's River — Father  Albanel's  second  journey — Taken 
prisoner  by  the  English — Chouart  and  Radisson  return 


CONTENTS  xvii 

PAGE 

to  their  allegiance — Radisson  founds  a  French  fort  on  the 
Bay — He  turns  English  again  and  captures  it — Jolliet  at 
Hudson's  Bay — The  Traite  de  Tadoussac — The  Labrador 
wilderness — The  missionaries  on  its  southern  border — 
The  desolate  plateau — The  Grand  Falls  discovered    .        .  375 


CHAPTER   XXni 

OCCUPATION    OF   THE    ST.    LAWRENCE   VALLEY 

Close  of  the  era  of  discovery — Physiography  of  the  continent 
favours  French  and  retards  English  exploration — The 
Iroquois  bar  the  roitte  by  the  lower  lakes — Great  war- 
feast  at  Montreal — Iroquois  opposition  ceases — Expedi- 
tion to  the  interior  of  Labrador — Rumours  of  the  Grand 
Falls  stimulate  the  efforts  of  explorers — Remarkable 
exploration  of  A.  P.  Low  for  the  Geological  Survey  of 
Canada — The  grim  territory  traversed  in  two  directions — 
The  occupation  of  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  on  the 
far  west — Headquarters  of  the  great  fur  companies  on 
Lake  Superior — Course  of  occupation  along  the  southern 
water-parting — Lowness  of  the  divide  of  Lakes  Michigan, 
Erie,  and  Ontario — Divides  of  Lake  Champlain,  the  Con- 
necticut, the  Chaudiere,  and  the  St.  John — Arrival  of  the 
loyalists  and  English  settlement  of  Ontario  and  Acadia  401 

CHAPTER   XXIV 

OCCUPATION   OF  THE  ATLANTIC  COAST 

The  history  of  the  French  settlements  in  Acadia — Vicissi- 
tudes of  English  and  French  Conquest — Alexander,  La 
Tour,  and  Charnisay — Nicholas  Denys — Port  Royal  (An- 
napolis) repeatedly  changes  masters — It  becomes  nomi- 
nally English — Settlements  on  the  St.  John  River  and 
Prince  Edward  Island — Settlement  at  Halifax — Deporta- 
tion of  the  Acadian  French — Anticosti — The  Island  of 
Newfoundland — Exploration  and  settlement  impeded  by 
Government — Cormack's  expedition — The  interior  opened 
up  by  a  railway 415 

APPENDIX 
List  of  the  Chief  Works  Consulted  or  Referred  to  .       .  429 
Index        .        .        .        , 443 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

1.  Go-Home    Bay;    Georgian   Bay    of 

Lake  Huron Frontispiece 

2.  Extract  from  Martin  Behaim's  Globe  Facing  page    8 

3.  The  Cabot  Tower  at  Bristol     .     .  "  18 

4.  The  Key  Point  of  North  American 

Geography  —  Fig.  i,  Ruysch 
Map,  A.  D.  1508— C.  de  Porto- 
gesi.  Fig.  2,  King  Map,  A.  D. 
1502 — Cape  Raso.  Fig.  3,  Cape 
Race,  A.  D.   1900 "  28 

5.  Juan  de  La  Cosa's  Map,  A.  D.  1500  "  30 

6.  Extract     from     Sebastian     Cabot's 

Map  of  1544,  showing  the  point 
of  Cape  Breton  as  the  landfall. 

Fig.   4 P(^g^         32 

7.  Robert  Thome's  Map,  A.  D.  1527. 

Fig.   5 "  41 

8.  Sebastian   Cabot — From   a  contem- 

poraneous portrait,  last  owned 
by  Richard  Biddle;  destroyed  by 
fire  in  1845 Facing  page  44 

9.  The   Cantino   Map,   A.   D.    1501-2. 

Fig.  6 Page         54 

10.  Pedro   Reinel's   Map,  A.   D.    1505. 

Fig.  7 Facing  page  57 

xtx 


XX  ILLUSTRATIONS 

11.  Ribeiro's  Map,  A,  D.  1529,     .     .     .  Facing  page   80 

12.  Cape  Blomidon — at  the  entrance  of 

the  Basin  of  Minas "  106 

13.  View  on  the  Gut  of  Canso     ...  "  no 

14.  Caspar  Viegas'  Map,  A.  D.   1534. 

Fig.  8 Page        115 

15.  Portrait  of  Jacques  Cartier    .     .     .  Facing  page  120 

16.  The    Creat    Bird    Rock,    from    an 

Admiralty  Chart.    Fig.  9    .     .     .         Page        134 

17.  The   Magdalen  Group,  true  shape. 

Fig.  10 "  136 

18.  Deadman's   Island    (Alezay),   from 

an  Admiralty  Chart.     Fig.  11      .  "  138 

19.  Representations    of    the    Magdalen 

Group  on  early  maps.   Fig.  12    .  "  139 

20.  Plan  of  Hochelaga — from  Ramusio  Facing  page  168 

21.  Cartographical   results  of  the  Car- 

tier  Voyages.  A — Harleyan 
World  Map,  circa  A.  D.  1536. 
C — Desceliers'  World  Map,  A. 
D.    1550       "  214 

22.  The  Sebastian  Cabot  Map  of  A.  D. 

1544 "  216 

23.  View  of  Tadoussac "  232 

24.  Champlain's    Chart    of    Tadoussac 

Harbour "  234 

25.  Champlain's  Map  of  Sault  St.  Louis 

and  site  of  the  city  of  Mont- 
real         "  236 

26.  Digby   Gut — The   entrance   to   An- 

napolis  (Port  Royal)   Basin  .     .  "  246 

27.  Portrait  of  Champlain "  252 


ILLUSTRATIONS  xxi 

28.  Champlain's  Map  of  Quebec  Basin  Facing  page  2S4 

29.  Defeat    of    the    Iroquois    on    Lake 

Champlain "  260 

30.  Running  the  Sault  St.  Louis  in  the 

present   day "  264 

31.  Chaudiere  Falls  at  Ottawa  ....  "  266 

32.  Entrance  to  French  River      ...  "  272 

33.  Onondaga  Fort  attacked  by  Cham- 

plain  and  the  Hurons     ....  "  278 

34.  Barrie ;    on    Lake    Simcoe    in    the 

Huron    Territory        "  282 

35.  Shadowy  River — Muskoka     ...  "  290 

36.  Site  of  St.  Mary  on  the  Wye — The 

central  point  of  the  Huron  Mis- 
sion       "  308 

37.  Fort  of  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Sem- 

inary at  Montreal "  330 

38.  The    Earthly    Paradise    of    Dollier 

and  Galinee "  334 

39.  Paul  de  Chomedey,  Sieur  de  Mai- 

sonneuve;   founder   of   Montreal  "  342 

40.  Map  of  Strait  of  Michilimackinac   .         Page       349 

41.  Falls  of  Niagara Facing  page  356 

42.  Map  showing  the  interlacing  of  the 

head-waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
Mississippi,  and  Red  River  of  the 
North "  364 

43.  Grand  Discharge  Rapids,  Lake  St. 

John "  382 

44.  Quebec  about  A.  D.  1700  ....  "  402 

45.  Quaint   Conceptions   of   Canada   in 

1715 "  408 


xxii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

46.  The    Town    and    Fortifications    of 

Montreal    in    the    i8th    century, 

from  an  old  engraving     .     ,     .  Facmg  page  412 

47.  View    from    the    site    of    tJie    Old 

French  Fort  at  Port  Royal,  look- 
ing across  the  Annapolis   Basin  "  416 

48.  Panorama  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie    .     .  "  426 


GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

Although  in  such  a  work  as  this  it  is  frequently 
necessary  to  dwell  from  time  to  time  upon  the  geography 
of  the  country,  it  will  be  convenient  to  review  in  one 
general  survey  the  physical  features  of  the  entire  region 
discovered  by  the  men  whose  deeds  are  recorded.  The 
characteristics  of  the  Atlantic  border  region  first  pre- 
sented to  the  early  sailors  differ  much  from  those  of  the 
interior  valley,  and  to  that  region  it  is  necessary  first  to 
direct  the  attention  of  the  reader.  Much  of  the  extreme 
northeastern  part  of  the  continent  where  it  stretches  far 
across  the  ocean  towards  Europe  is  still  comparatively 
unknown.  Until  the  last  ten  years  the  interior  of  Labra- 
dor was  a  great  blank  upon  our  maps,  and  little  was 
known  even  of  the  interior  of  the  island  of  Newfound- 
land until  the  opening  of  the  railway  a  few  years  ago. 

The  portion  of  the  Atlantic  coast  which  falls  within 
the  scope  of  this  volume  extends  through  seventeen  de- 
grees of  latitude,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot  in 
Maine  to  Cape  Chidley  on  Hudson's  Strait,  the  northern 
point  of  Labrador.  Of  the  Atlantic  Labrador  very  little 
can  be  said.  Along  its  stern  front  rise  cliffs,  abruptly 
from  the  sea,  at  Cape  Chidley  1500  feet  high,  and  2000 
feet  50  miles  further  south.  The  bays  and  inlets  in  this 
rocky  barrier  and  the  surf-lashed  islands  which  fringe 
the  coast  afford  shelter,  but  it  is  a  forbidding  coast, 
and  the  region  behind  the  steep  barrier  of  cliffs  is 
unknown. 

Nearest  to  Europe  is  the  oldest  colony  of  England,  the 
island  of 

NEWFOUNDLAND 

It  has  an  area  of  42,000  square  miles — considerably 
larger  than  the  united  areas  of  Ireland  and  Wales.  Its 
coast  is  most  profoundly  indented  by  the  sea,  so  much 
so  that,  for  a  long  time  after  its  discovery,  it  appeared 


-xxiv      GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

on  all  the  maps  as  a  j^roup  of  islands.  The  bays  reach 
from  30  to  50  miles  inland  ;  in  its  whole  circumference 
it  is  studded  with  harbours  affording-  unlimited  shelter  to 
the  fishing-  craft  on  the  coast..  The  shape  of  the  island 
is  roughly  an  equilateral  triangle — the  extreme  distance 
from  north  to  south  being  317,  and  from  west  to  east  316 
miles. 

The  coasts  are  rocky  and  forbidding,  even  in  the 
bays,  and  along  the  Atlantic  they  present  for  long 
stretches  a  rampart  of  rock  from  200  to  400  feet  high. 
The  entrance  to  the  harbour  of  St.  John's  is  by  a  cleft 
only  a  half  mile  wide.  The  harbour  is  one  of  the  best 
in  America,  deep  and  perfectly  landlocked.  A  range  of 
mountains  2000  feet  high  extends  along  the  greater  part 
of  the  west  coast,  but  is  fringed  in  most  places  with  a 
band,  a  few  miles  wide,  of  low  shore.  The  interior  is  a 
low,  undulating  tableland,  with  moors  covered  with  moss 
and  patches  of  low  trees,  and  with  marshes  and  innumer- 
able lakes  and  ponds.  Along  the  river  valleys  and  the 
lakes  there  are  extensive  regions  of  excellent  land  with 
fine  timber.  Many  detached  peaks,  locally  called  "  tolts," 
rise  abruptly  from  the  plain. 

Three  large  rivers  extend  almost  across  the  island. 
Two  of  them,  the  Gander  and  the  Exploits,  rise  in  the 
southwest  and  flow  northeast,  and  the  third,  the  Humber, 
rises  in  the  northeast  and  flows  southwest.  The  rivers 
abound  with  fish — salmon  and  trout ;  the  coasts  and  bays 
swarm  with  codfish ;  and  large  herds  of  caribou  migrate 
spring  and  fall  through  the  centre  of  the  island.  Copper 
and  iron  are  mined,  and  coal  is  found,  though  the  deposits 
are  not  worked.  Fish,  lobsters,  oils,  and  minerals  are 
the  chief  exports,  and  provide  a  livelihood  for  the  popu- 
lation which  fringes  the  eastern  and  southern  coasts.  The 
west  coast  has  been  kept  vacant  by  the  French  claims, 
happily  disposed  of  by  a  treaty  recently  ratified. 

NOVA  SCOTIA 

The  Province  of  Nova  Scotia  is  a  peninsula,  and,  politi- 
cally, it  also  includes  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  separated 


GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH       xxv 

from  it  by  the  deep  Gut,  or  Strait  of  Canso,  only  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  wide  at  its  narrowest  part,  at  which 
place  a  bridge  is  projected.  The  peninsula  is  268  miles 
long,  with  a  width  of  60  to  100  miles,  and  the  island  is 
108  miles  long ;  but  in  width  is  very  irregular,  for  the 
interior  of  the  island  is  occupied  by  the  Bras  d'Or,  an  arm 
of  the  sea.  The  area  of  the  whole  province  is  20,600 
square  miles. 

The  Atlantic  coast  is  low,  but  rocky.  It  abounds  in 
excellent  harbours ;  that  of  Halifax  is  accounted  to  be 
among  the  finest  in  the  world.  The  coast  facing  the  Bay 
of  Fundy  is  high  and  steep,  because  of  a  mountain  ridge 
running  close  to  the  shore.  A  remarkable  gap  opens  at 
Digby  and  admits  the  largest  vessels  into  Annapolis 
Basin,  an  excellent  landlocked  harbour,  the  only  one  of 
note  on  that  coast.  The  Basin  of  Minas  opens  out  from 
the  Bay  of  Fundy.  and  extends  sixty  miles  into  the  land 
with  a  breadth  of  twenty  miles.  The  entrance  is  remark- 
able for  the  bold  headlands  on  either  side.  Cape  d'Or 
and  Cape  Chignecto  belong  to  the  Cobequid  mountain 
range,  and  Cape  Split  and  Cape  Blomidon  are  the  bluff 
terminations  of  the  ranges  which  shut  in  the  Annapolis 
River. 

The  interior  of  the  peninsula  is  of  moderate  height  and 
abounds  with  lakes.  The  side  facing  the  Atlantic  is  less 
fertile  than  thc'parts  facing  the  inner  bays.  Two  ranges 
of  mountains,  known  as  the  North  and  South  Mountain, 
bound  the  valley  of  the  Annapolis  River,  and  the  Cobe- 
quid Mountains  extend  from  Cape  Chignecto,  on  the 
Bay  of  Fundy,  through  the  peninsula  to  Cape  Canso  on 
the  Atlantic. 

CAPE  BRETON 

This  beautiful  island  is  worthy  of  note  because  of  the 
Bras  d'Or,  a  remarkable  loch  which  occupies  its  centre. 
Two  ranges  of  mountains  open  at  an  angle  from  the 
southwest  to  form  a  basin  communicating  with  the  ocean 
by  two  narrow  passages  on  the  northeast.  Large  ships 
can  pass  into  it  and  moor  close  to  the  shores.     The  west- 


xxvi      GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

ern  range  is  the  higher,  and,  as  a  tableland  1200  feet  high, 
is  prolonged  to  a  promontory,  steep  on  both  sides,  and 
ending  in  the  bold  headlands  of  Cape  North  and  Cape  St. 
Lawrence.  The  chief  town  is  Sydney,  where  are  large 
coal  mines.  The  old  harbour  of  Louisbourg  is  being 
again  frequented,  not  as  of  old  by  ships  of  war,  but  by 
collier  steamers.  The  island  is  underlaid  by  coal  seams, 
which  crop  out  at  the  east,  south,  and  southwest  shores. 
A  narrow  isthmus  only  a  mile  wide  separates  the  Bras 
d'Or  from  the  entrance  of  the  Strait  of  Canso. 

NEW   BRUNSWICK 

The  Bay  of  Fundy  is  a  remarkable  arm  of  the  North 
Atlantic,  extending  180  miles  towards  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence,  and  separating  the  peninsula  of  Nova  Scotia 
from  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick.  Into  this  deep 
funnel  the  tides  sweep  on  a  broad  front  and  gather  force 
and  height,  as  the  shores  close  in,  until  they  form  a  bore 
five  feet  four  inches  high.  The  tidal  wave  increases  in 
swiftness,  from  three  miles  an  hour  at  Cape  Sable,  to 
seven  at  the  head  of  the  bay.  The  rivers  are  all  tidal,  and 
at  ebb  present  immense  flats  of  red  mud,  through  which 
the  fresh  water  trickles  to  the  sea ;  but  suddenly,  at 
fiow,  they  become  wide  brimming  streams.  Rich  dyked 
meadowland  surrounds  the  head  of  the  bay  and  all  its 
branches. 

The  broad  estuary  of  the  Penobscot  River,  crowded 
with  islands,  is  the  Rio  do  Gamas  of  the  old  Portuguese 
maps  and  the  Norumbegue  of  later  years.  It  is  the  west- 
ern boundary,  on  the  sea  coast,  of  the  region  treated  of  in 
this  volume,  and  is  the  true  boundary  between  the  English 
and  French  colonies ;  though  Canada  has  been  negotiated 
out  of  the  country  between  it  and  the  St.  Croix  in  one  of 
the  many  diplomatic  surrenders  which  have  shorn  her 
ample  proportions. 

At  the  St.  Croix  River  is  the  present  boundary  between 
Canada  and  the  State  of  Maine.  The  country  is  rugged 
and  the  shore  is  low,  but  rocky,  and  continues  the  same 


GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH     xxvfi 

for  some  distance  eastward  along  the  New  Brunswick 
coast.  The  Province  of  New  Brunswick  is  almost 
square,  being  230  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  200 
miles  from  east  to  west.  It  extends  over  an  area  of 
28,200  square  miles,  and,  for  the  most  part,  is  a  plain 
originally  densely  forested.  It  is  now  largely  settled  and 
cleared,  especially  along  the  rivers,  but  large  portions  of 
the  interior  are  still  a  wilderness,  the  cherished  resort  of 
sportsmen. 

New  Brunswick  in  its  general  aspect  is  a  rolling  plain, 
furrowed  by  numberless  river  courses,  which,  in  the 
interior,  have  cut  deeply  into  the  softer  rocks  and  have 
formed  wide  valleys — flooded  by  the  spring  freshets,  but 
productive  meadows  for  the  rest  of  the  year.  The  River 
St.  John  is  the  chief  feature  of  the  Province.  It  drains 
one-half  of  it  and  a  goodly  portion  of  the  State  of  Maine. 
It  is  navigable  without  a  break  as  far  as  Grand  Falls,  216 
miles  from  its  mouth.  Its  course  is  north  and  south,  and 
its  numerous  affluents  touch  at  their  sources  all  the  rivers 
which  water  the  remaining  half  of  the  Province.  The 
Miramichi  and  Richibucto  are  important  rivers,  flowing 
directly  into  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence ;  the  Nipisiquit 
and  Restigouche  flow  into  Chaleur  Bay.  These  are  the 
chief  streams,  and  with  their  many  affluents  cover  the 
country  with  a  network  of  flowing  waters.  Dividing 
ridges  of  highlands  separate  the  basin  of  the  streams 
draining  into  the  Gulf  from  a  narrow  strip  along  the  Bay 
of  Fundy  and  from  the  basin  of  the  St.  John. 

THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

The  St.  Lawrence  basin  is  a  great  transverse  valley 
530,000  square  miles  in  area  leading  from  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  to  the  heart  of  the  continent,  and  commanding  all 
the  avenues  of  communication  throughout  its  whole  ex- 
tent. It  is  not  only  possible,  but  it  was  in  old  days  usual, 
to  pass  in  canoes  from  St.  Lawrence  waters  to  Hudson's 
Bay,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  into  the  Mackenzie 
River,  draining  into  the  Arctic  Ocean.     The  headwaters 


xxviii    GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

of  the  Peace  and  Liard  rivers,  tributaries  of  the  Mac- 
kenzie, rise  close  to  the  sources  of  the  Fraser  and  Yukon, 
flowing  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  the  Saskatchewan  and 
Athabasca  lead  up  close  to  the  chief  passes  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Though  canoes  are  not  carried  across  the 
last  divide,  the  St.  Lawrence  basin  is  the  gateway  of 
access  to  all  these  river  systems. 

The  length  of  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  if  measured 
from  the  open  ocean  at  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle  to  the 
head  of  Lake  Superior,  is  2388  miles,  and  the  largest 
ocean  steamships  may  pass  up  986  miles  to  the  city  of 
Montreal.  Beyond  that,  canals,  in  the  aggregate  71 
miles  long,  open  up  1402  miles  of  inland  navigation 
through  the  river  and  lakes. 

The  width  of  the  river  proper  is  on  an  average  a  mile 
and  three-quarters.  Its  narrowest  points  are  at  Detroit 
and  Quebec.  It  is  generally  deep.  The  shallowest 
places  are  the  expansions  of  Lake  St.  Peter,  below  Mont- 
real, and  Lake  St.  Clair,  above  Detroit.  Deep  channels 
have  been  dredged  at  these  localities,  and  the  canals  admit 
of  the  passage  of  craft  drawing  fourteen  feet  of  water. 

The  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence  lies  chiefly  north  of  the 
river,  for  all  its  great  tributaries  flow  from  that  direction. 
It  is  separated  on  the  north  by  a  low  divide  from  the 
basin  of  Hudson's  Bay,  Myriads  of  lakes  are  the  per- 
ennial sources  of  the  countless  streams  which  swell  the 
flood  of  the  "  River  of  Canada,"  and  sustain  its  volume 
throughout  the  year. 

While  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence  system  extends  to 
the  headwaters  of  all  its  tributaries,  the  valley  of  the 
river  in  a  narrower  sense  has  a  character  of  its  own,  since 
it  is  level  and  largely  alluvial  and  of  more  recent  geologi- 
cal age.  The  Archaean  nucleus  of  the  continent,  known 
as  Laurentian,  bounds  it  all  the  length  of  its  northern 
border.  This  is  a  plateau  1000  to  1600  feet  in  height,  at 
varying  distances  from  the  river,  but  never  very  far  away. 
The  lofty  and  precipitous  northern  shore  of  Lake  Su- 
perior belongs  to  the  Laurentian  system,  and  it  continues 
along  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Huron  and  extends  over 


GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH      xxix 

the  northern  part  of  the  Province  of  Ontario.  It  crosses 
the  Ottawa  thirty  miles  above  Ottawa  city,  and  is  visible 
on  the  far  horizon  from  the  river  valley  as  a  range  of 
rounded  mountains.  Over  the  southern  margin  of  this 
plateau  the  innumerable  feeders  of  the  river  fall  in  rapids 
or  cascades,  representing  a  wealth  of  energy  only  real- 
ised since  the  recent  application  of  hydraulic  power  to 
the  generation  of  the  electrical  forces.  All  along  the 
river  from  Montreal  the  range  of  mountains  may  be  seen, 
far  away,  but  coming  gradually  closer  until  Quebec  is 
reached.  At  Cape  Tourmente,  twenty  miles  below  Que- 
bec, these  highlands  come  out  on  the  river  as  a  mountain 
1919  feet  high.  They  follow  on  along  the  shore  past  the 
mouth  of  the  Saguenay,  rising  to  2547  feet  at  Les  fiboule- 
ments,  and  1800  feet  on  the  Saguenay.  They  retreat  on 
the  lower  river  and  continue  at  varying  distances  in  rear 
of  the  Labrador  coast  to  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle. 

On  the  southern  side  the  valley  is  invaded  by  an  ex- 
tension of  the  Appalachian  system,  known  as  the  Green 
and  White  Mountains,  in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire 
respectively.  This  range  enters  the  valley  near  Lake 
Memphremagog,  and  passes  through  the  eastern  town- 
ships of  Quebec  Province.  It  forms  a  mountain  back- 
ground for  a  long  distance  below  the  city  of  Quebec,  and 
at  Matane  comes  out  on  the  southern  shore.  The  moun- 
tains continue  thence  along  the  south  shore  and  form  the 
rough  tableland  of  Gaspe.  In  their  course  they  occasion- 
ally rise  to  3700  and  4000  feet.  The  average  height  on 
the  peninsula  of  Gaspe  is  3000  feet.  These  ranges  of 
highlands  bound  the  valley  of  the  river  on  both  sides. 

To  the  west  the  St.  Lawrence  basin  is  bounded  by  the 
sub-basin  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  which  approaches  to  a  dis- 
tance of  60  miles  from  Lake  Superior.  The  divide  is 
1000  feet  high,  but  the  distance  is  not  great,  though  the 
portages  are  heavy.  On  the  south  the  divide  separating 
the  basin  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  sub-basin  of  the 
Ohio  from  that  of  the  St.  Lawrence  is  low  and  obscure, 
and  reaches  very  close  to  the  southern  shores  of  the  Great 
Lakes.     That  is  the  feature  which  gives  to  the  great  river 


XXX       GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

its  special  importance  in  unlocking  the  communications 
of  the  inner  continent.  East  of  Lake  Ontario  the  water- 
parting  passes  more  southward  and  sweeps  round  the 
heads  of  Lakes  George  and  Champlain,  from  whence  it 
turns  abruptly  to  the  north  to  exclude  the  head  of  the 
Connecticut  River  a  little  south  of  Lake  Memphremagog, 
The  White  Mountains  and  the  highlands  at  the  sources  of 
the  Kennebec,  Penobscot,  and  St.  John  mark  out  the 
remainder  of  the  divide  by  very  strong  features 

THE     LAKES 

The  St.  Lav^rrence  River  is  remarkable  for  the  great 
number  of  expansions  in  its  course.  Apart  from  the 
Great  Lakes,  there  are  on  its  lower  waters  Lakes  St. 
Francis,  St.  Louis,  and  St.  Peter,  but  the  great  inland 
seas  of  the  upper  river  are  unique,  for  they  cover  a  total 
area  of  98,510  square  miles.  They  occupy  the  inner  basin 
of  the  continent,  and  yet  from  Lake  Superior,  the  last  of 
the  series,  to  tide  water  at  Three  Rivers,  halfway  between 
Quebec  and  Montreal,  is  a  fall  of  only  602  feet  in  the 
whole  course  of  1500  miles.  Their  depth  is  very  great, 
and  in  two  of  them  reaches  below  the  sea  level.  Superior 
is  900  feet,  Huron  500,  Michigan  1000,  and  Ontario  412 
feet  deep.  Lake  Erie  is  shallow,  for  its  average  depth  is 
only  90  feet. 

We  may  now  consider  this  great  river  more  closely, 
and  it  will  be  convenient  to  follow  the  flow  of  its  waters, 
Its  source  is  the  St.  Louis  River,  a  stream  rising  in  the 
cramped  watershed  west  of  Lake  Superior,  where  the 
Mississippi  and  Winnipeg  divides  press  within  60  to  100 
miles  of  the  Lake  basin.  At  its  mouth  is  the  brand- 
new  but  very  important  city  of  Duluth — a  recent  creation 
of  centring  railways,  not  of  the  river,  which  is  chiefly 
important  as  a  harbour,  for  it  is  not  navigable  for  more 
than  20  miles. 

Lake  Superior  is  the  uppermost  of  all  the  St.  Law- 
rence lakes,  and  the  largest,  although  few  rivers  of  mag- 
nitude contribute  to  its  volume.     It  is  420  miles  long  and 


GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH      xxxi 

80  miles  in  average  breadth.  Its  area  is  31,240  miles, 
but  the  area  of  the  basin  in  which  it  rests  is  surprisingly- 
small,  for  the  water-parting  of  Hudson's  Bay  approaches 
close  to  its  northern  shore.  The  basin  extends  to  the 
north  to  enclose  Lake  Nipigon,  and,  turning  westward  at 
the  head  of  Lake  Nipigon,  it  encounters  the  water-parting 
of  the  Winnipeg  sub-basin.  The  divide  of  this  latter 
basin  reaches  to  within  60  miles  of  the  western  shore  of 
Lake  Superior,  and  touches  on  the  south  the  water-part- 
ing of  the  Mississippi. 

The  north  shore  of  Lake  Superior  is  rugged  and  lofty. 
The  country  gives  promise  of  mineral  production  only. 
Lake  Nipigon  is  very  deep,  and  its  whole  area  is  studded 
with  islands.  The  coast  of  Lake  Superior  retains  its 
character  as  it  turns  to  the  southwest.  Thunder  Cape 
marks  Thunder  Bay,  surrounded  by  cliffs  looo  feet  high, 
where  Port  Arthur  and  Fort  William  carry  on  the  Cana- 
dian trade  of  the  lake.  The  Kaministiquia  River  falls  in 
at  Fort  William. 

The  south  shore  of  the  lake  and  the  extreme  western 
end,  where  the  Mississippi  basin  reaches  close,  is  not  so 
high.  Bluffs  of  sandstone,  worn  by  the  waves  into  pic- 
turesque forms,  or  sandy  beaches,  are  its  chief  character- 
istics. Keweenaw  Point  is  a  promontory  20  miles  wide, 
stretching  60  miles  into  the  lake.  Portage  Lake,  at  its 
base,  extends  nearly  all  the  way  across,  and  this  old  canoe 
short  cut,  supplemented  by  a  ship  canal,  saves  120  miles 
of  dangerous  coasting  round  the  Point.  The  Pictured 
Rocks  are  the  most  attractive  feature  of  the  south  shore. 
They  are  perpendicular  sandstone  bluffs,  50  to  200  feet 
high,  worn  into  fantastic  forms  of  castle,  chapel,  or  por- 
tal, and  stained  in  all  shades  of  brown,  yellow,  and  grey, 
with  occasional  blues  and  greens,  by  the  minerals  abound- 
ing in  the  vicinity.  From  the  Pictured  Rocks  to  the 
Sault  the  coast  is  sandy.  At  Sault  St.  Mary  the  lake  dis- 
charges in  rapids,  which  are  overcome  by  canals,  one  on 
each  side,  each  consisting  of  one  lock  larger  and  longer 
than  any  other  lock  in  the  world.  At  this  point  the  St. 
Lawrence  is  known  as  the  St.  Mary's  River,  and  drops, 


xxxii     GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

at  the  Rapids.  22  feet  in  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  It  is  the 
only  noticeable  drop  in  level  until  Niagara  is  reached. 
Lakes  Huron.  Michigan,  and  Erie  are  one  many-armed 
sea,  indenting  in  vast  bays  some  of  the  most  productive 
territory  in  the  world. 

The  St.  Mary's  River  requires  continual  dredging,  as 
it  passes  through  Hay  Lake  and  Mud  Lake,  to  keep  suffi- 
cient depth  in  the  channels  for  the  very  large  craft  now 
navigating  the  upper  lakes.  At  Detour — the  easternmost 
extremity  of  northern  Michigan,  almost  exactly  on  the 
parallel  of  46°  N. — two  great  routes  diverge.  The 
traveller  may  either  continue  east  into  Lake  Huron  or 
turn  (as  the  name  suggests)  west  and  then  southwards 
through  the  Straits  of  Michilimackinac  into  Lake  Michi- 
gan. It  is  a  cardinal  point,  for  the  great  Laurentian 
backbone  of  Canada  here  strikes  directly  to  the  eastwards 
following  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Huron.  It  cuts  across 
the  base  of  the  peninsula  of  Ontario,  crosses  the  Ottawa 
River  30  miles  above  Ottawa  city,  and,  passing  30  miles 
in  rear  of  Montreal,  emerges  upon  the  river  20  miles  be- 
low Quebec.  The  junction  of  the  three  great  lakes  at 
Detour  is  in  summer  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
beautiful  spots  in  the  whole  valley — the  blue  sky,  and  the 
clear  water  reflecting  it,  and  the  wooded  islands  on  the 
far  margin  of  the  sea-like  expanse  make  a  striking  scene 
of  natural  beauty  enhanced  by  the  human  interest  of  the 
occasional  smoke  of  huge  lake  craft  wending  their  diverg- 
ing ways  on  the  far  horizon. 

Lake  Michigan  is  345  miles  long  by  58  miles  wide,  and 
covers  an  area  of  25,590  square  miles.  It  is  the  deepest 
of  the  lakes,  and  its  bottom  is  400  feet  below  the  level  of 
the  sea.  Its  most  remarkable  feature  is  Green  Bay, — a 
corruption  of  Grand  Bay, — but  known  in  early  history  as 
Baie  des  Puants,  or  simply  as  La  Baie.  The  Bay 
reaches  far  into  the  country,  and  receives  the  Meno- 
monee  and  Fox  rivers  from  the  interior  of  the  present 
State  of  Wisconsin.  The  route  by  the  Fox  River, 
through  Lake  Winnebago  and  into  the  Wisconsin  River, 
was  Jolliet's  route  to  discover  the  Mississippi.     At  Chi- 


GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH    xxxiii 

cago  the  Mississippi  sends  up  the  Des  Plaines  River,  one 
of  its  tributaries,  to  within  9  miles  of  the  lake  shore,  and 
the  waters  of  the  two  great  basins  are  now  continuous  by 
means  of  a  canal.  The  country  is  level  and  the  lake 
shores  are  clay  bluffs  of  very  moderate  height,  washed 
down  into  sand  dunes  and  sandy  beaches  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  lake,  where  the  waves  have  full  sweep  from 
the  north.  The  St.  Joseph  River — a  tortuous  stream 
draining  northern  Indiana  and  southern  Michigan — falls 
in  on  the  southeast  side,  but  the  basins  of  the  Mississippi 
and  C  hio  approach  so  near  that  there  are  few  affluents  of 
impoi  tance. 

Lai  e  Huron  covers  an  area  of  23,780  squar-e  miles.  It 
is  40('  miles  long,  with  an  average  breadth  of  70  miles. 
The  Abater  is  deep  and  very  clear.  The  north  shore  is 
high  rnd  rocky,  and  the  Archaean  rocks  extend  down  the 
coast  of  Georgian  Bay,  giving  that  region  physical  char- 
acteri.^tics  very  different  from  the  other  lakes,  and  even 
from  ..he  rest  of  the  lake  shore.  At  the  north  the  Man- 
itoulir  Islands  and  the  long  promontory  of  Cabot  Head 
separ£.te  the  Georgian  Bay  and  the  North  Channel,  and 
that  part  of  it  is  studded  with  islands.  It  is  a  region  of 
wonderful  beauty.  In  Georgian  Bay  alone  the  islands 
have  been  estimated  to  exceed  thirty  thousand  in  number. 
The  rest  of  the  lake  is  free  from  islands,  and  the  shores 
sink  into  clay  bluffs  from  the  level  land  as  do  those  of 
the  other  lakes,  excepting  Superior.  The  peninsula  of 
Michigan  is  enclosed  between  Lakes  Huron  and  Michi- 
gan, and  on  the  Huron  side  it  is  deeply  indented  by  Sagi- 
naw Bay, — the  widest  and  stormiest  part  of  the  lake. — 
where  the  traveller  may  be  out  of  sight  of  land  and  easily 
believe  himself  upon  the  ocean. 

The  St.  Lawrence  leaving  Lake  Huron  is  called  the  St. 
Clair  River,  and  leads  into  Lake  St.  Clair,  a  shallow  lake 
25  miles  long  and  20  miles  wide,  where  dredging  is  neces- 
sary to  maintain  in  the  channels  sufficient  draught  for 
large  vessels.  From  Lake  St.  Clair  it  passes,  as  the 
Detroit  River,  into  Lake  Erie  through  a  channel  requiring 
constant  dredging. 


xxxiv    GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

Lake  Erie  is  250  miles  lon^,  with  an  average  width  of 
38  miles.  It  is  a  shallow  lake,  especially  at  its  western 
end.  The  average  depth  over  its  whole  area  of  10,030 
miles  is  only  90  feet.  The  shores  of  the  lake  are  level 
and  low,  and  the  region  is  one  of  unparalleled  fertility. 
The  sub-basin  of  the  Ohio  approaches  the  south  shore  of 
Lake  Erie  closer  and  closer  as  it  extends  eastwards,  until 
at  Chautauqua  Lake  the  distance  is  only  6  miles.  Large 
cities,  Toledo,  Cleveland,  Erie,  Buffalo,  are  on  the  south 
shore,  for  the  great  basins  of  the  Mississippi  and  St. 
Lawrence  there  exchange  their  traffic  by  the  most  direct 
route  east  and  west. 

Under  the  name  Niagara  River  the  St.  Lawrence 
thence  pursues  its  course  to  Lake  Ontario,  a  distance  of 
33  miles.  Here  occurs  a  drop  in  the  elevation  of  the 
whole  country  over  an  escarpment  extending  across  the 
peninsula  of  Ontario  to  Cabot  Head,  projecting  into  Lake 
Huron.  From  the  upper  to  the  lower  plain  the  whole 
river — the  discharge  of  the  four  upper  lakes — precipitates 
itself  in  one  leap  at  Niagara  Falls  at  the  estimated  rate  of 
seven  thousand  tons  a  second.  The  river  flows  evenly, 
though  fast,  past  Grand  Island,  when  it  unites  into  a 
stream  two  and  a  half  miles  wide,  and  rushes  swiftly 
down  in  foaming  rapids  an  incline  of  55  feet  to  the  edge 
of  the  fall.  There  it  is  divided  by  Goat  Island.  One 
part,  called  the  American  Fall,  drops  167  feet  with  a 
straight  crest  line  of  1080  feet,  and  the  other,  the  Cana- 
dian or  Horseshoe  Fall,  with  a  crest  line  3010  feet  in 
length,  in  an  immense  concave  curve  drops  158  feet  into 
the  gorge  below.  Lengthened  description  would  be 
superfluous  in  these  days  of  universal  travel  and  innumer- 
able guide  books. 

The  original  line  of  the  escarpment  where  it  crossed 
the  river  was  in  remote  ages  7  miles  lower  down,  at 
Queenston  Heights,  and  the  river  has  worn  its  way 
backwards  and  cut  out  for  itself  a  gorge  200  feet  deep, 
in  which  it  foams  its  impetuous  way  through  rapids  and 
whirlpools  down  another  declivity  of  ill  feet  to  the 
level  of  Lake  Ontario,  240  feet  above  tide  water. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH     xxxv 

Lake  Ontario — the  last  of  the  series — is  190  miles  long 
by  40  miles  (average)  wide.  Its  average  depth  is  412 
feet,  and  it  covers  an  area  of  7330  miles.  The  shores 
are  low,  as  in  the  case  of  the  other  lower  lakes,  not  rising 
above  the  surface  of  the  lake  more  than  50  to  100  feet. 
A  remarkable  peninsula  on  the  north  shore  shuts  in  the 
tranquil  landlocked  Bay  of  Quinte.  Toronto,  the  second 
city  of  the  Dominion,  is  on  this  lake  at  the  beginning  of 
an  old  portage  route  to  Georgian  Bay.  Hamilton  is  an 
important  city  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  and  Kingston  (the 
Fort  Frontenac  of  the  Indian  wars)  is  at  its  outlet. 
Rochester  is  on  the  southern  shore  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Genesee  (the  river  of  the  Senecas),  and  Oswego  at  the 
end  of  the  Mohawk  portage  route.  At  the  eastern  end 
the  river  encloses  in  its  narrowing  channel  the  islands 
known  as  the  Thousand  Islands.  Then  assuming  its 
proper  name,  it  flows  as  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  sea.  It 
loses  the  240  feet  of  level  from  the  lake  in  a  series  of 
rapids  until  it  reaches  tide  water. 

The  St.  Lawrence  (River  of  Canada,  or  Cataraqui  of 
old  books)  is  a  stately  river  of  clear  and  bright  water 
flowing  from  one  to  three  miles  in  width  in  its  course  to 
Quebec  between  low  banks  formerly  densely  forested,  but 
now  cleared  and  very  fertile.  Near  Prescott,  119  miles 
above  Montreal,  the  rapids  commence.  The  Galops, 
Rapide  Plat,  and  Long  Sault  are  the  first  group ;  after 
which  follows  Lake  St.  Francis,  an  expanse  of  tranquil 
water  38  miles  long.  Then  follow  in  quick  succession  the 
Coteau,  Cedars,  and  Cascades  Rapids  to  Lake  St.  Louis, 
15  miles  long;  after  which  the  final  and  most  formidable 
of  the  series,  the  Sault  St.  Louis,  drops  the  river  down  45 
feet  to  Montreal.  The  12  remaining  feet  are  accounted 
for  by  the  current  St.  Mary,  at  Montreal,  and  the  86 
miles  to  Three  Rivers,  where  the  tide  is  reached.  All 
these  rapids  are  run  in  descending  from  Niagara  to  Que- 
bec by  large  steamers  carrying  hundreds  of  passengers. 

At  Montreal  is  the  commercial  centre  of  the  country — 
the  natural  point  of  exchange,  the  end  of  ocean  naviga- 
tion, and  the  beginning  of  inland  navigation,  where  the 


xxxvi    GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

Lachine  canal  commences  the  series  of  upward  steps. 
The  step  which  overcomes  Niaj^^ara  is  the  Welland  canal, 
from  Port  Dalhousie  on  Lake  Ontario  to  Port  Colborne 
on  Lake  Erie,  and  the  final  step  is  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie 
canal.  This  series  of  canals  is  the  great  stairway  to  the 
heart  of  the  continent,  and  a  stream  of  vessels  drawing 
14  feet  is  constantly  passing  up  to  return  by  the  more 
exhilarating  method  of  running  down  hill. 

The  river  from  Montreal  to  Quebec  flows  quietly 
through  a  very  level  valley  and  an  almost  continuous 
settlement  on  both  sides.  As  it  expands  to  form  Lake 
St.  Peter  it  becomes  shallower,  and  much  dredging  has 
been  done  to  enable  ocean  vessels  drawing  27^  feet  to 
reach  Montreal.  The  tide  is  first  felt  at  Three  Rivers, 
and  at  a  place  called  the  Richelieu  large  vessels  wait  for 
high  tide  to  pass  through.  This  place  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  Richelieu  River.  It  is  named  from  an 
island  where  Champlain  built  a  post  and  called  it  Riche- 
lieu Island.  As  the  river  nears  Quebec,  mountains 
begin  to  close  in  on  both  sides  over  the  level  valley.  Op- 
posite Quebec  the  river  forms  a  deep  basin — one  of  the 
great  harbours  of  the  world,  though  so  far  from  the 
ocean.  The  mountains  close  round  in  a  great  amphithe- 
atre, and  Cape  Diamond  crowned  with  fortifications  rises 
steep  over  the  city.  The  St.  Lawrence  now  takes  on  a 
new  character.  It  becomes  a  tidal  river.  The  tides  rise 
16  feet,  and  the  largest  ships  pass  up  and  down  with  them. 
The  Island  of  Orleans  at  first  obscures  the  width,  but 
beyond  it  the  river  rapidly  widens,  and  where  the  Sague- 
nay  falls  in  it  is  25  miles  across.  The  water,  which  is 
brackish  and  undrinkable  30  miles  below  Quebec,  is  salt 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Saguenay. 

It  is  impossible  within  the  limits  of  this  sketch  to  men- 
tion, even  in  the  briefest  way,  all  the  rivers  tributary  to 
the  St.  Lawrence.  The  tributaries  to  Lake  Superior  are 
small  streams  on  the  southern  watershed,  and  on  the 
north  the  Nipigon  River  is  the  only  one  of  importance. 

The  Menomonee  and  Fox  rivers  of  Green  Bay  and  the 
St.  Joseph  and  Grand  rivers  on  the  east  side  are  the 


GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  xxxvii 

principal  feeders  of  Lake  Michigan.  Lake  Huron,  de- 
spite its  wide  area,  has  no  great  river  falhng  into  it.  The 
eastern  watershed  of  the  peninsula  of  Michigan  is  not 
wide  enough  to  beget  great  rivers,  and  the  watershed  at 
the  north  is  also  very  narrow.  The  chief  affluents  are 
from  the  Province  of  Ontario — the  French  River,  dis- 
charging Lake  Nipissing,  the  drainage  of  the  Muskoka 
Lakes,  and  the  Severn  River,  draining  Lake  Simcoe. 
The  Thames,  one  of  the  largest  rivers  of  the  peninsula 
of  Ontario,  drains  into  the  shallow  Lake  St.  Clair. 

The  water-parting  of  the  Ohio  approaches  so  close  to 
Lake  Erie  that  its  feeders  from  the  south  are  small  in 
volume.  The  largest  are  the  Maumee  and  the  Sandusky. 
On  the  north  shore  the  Grand  River  drains  into  it  a  large 
part  of  the  Ontario  peninsula.  Lake  Ontario  has  the 
Genesee  and  the  Oswego  rivers  as  its  largest  feeders 
from  the  south,  and  on  the  north  the  Trent  draws  into  it 
the  waters  from  the  lakes  east  of  Lake  Simcoe  and  south 
of  the  Ottawa  basin.  It  is  not  the  magnitude,  but  the 
number,  of  the  streams  which  swells  the  volume  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  as  it  passes  through  its  lake  expansions,  and 
the  stately  river  flows  out  of  its  great  settling  basins  deep 
and  broad,  in  a  clear  and  transparent  flood. 

Eastward  of  Lake  Huron  the  basin  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence broadens  out  on  the  north  and  from  thence  come 
its  great  tributaries.  Chief  of  all  is  the  Ottawa,  a  river 
780  miles  long,  and  draining  an  area  of  80,000  square 
miles.  It  rises  in  the  Grand  Lake  Victoria,  and,  after  a 
circuitous  course  through  many  small  lakes,  reaches 
Lake  Temiscaming,  whence  it  flows  eastward  to  make, 
at  its  junction  with  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  delta  island  on 
which  stands  the  city  of  Montreal.  It  is  a  broad  and 
deep  river  expanding  into  lakes ;  not  a  quiet  stream, 
though  there  are  long  stretches  of  tranquil  water,  but 
vexed  with  rapids ;  and  at  the  city  of  Ottawa  dropping  40 
feet  over  the  Chaudiere  Falls.  Its  darker  water  joins 
the  bright  blue  St.  Lawrence  at  an  acute  angle  and  flows 
side  by  side,  clearly  distinguishable  until  the  tide  is 
reached  in  Lake  St.  Peter. 


xxxviii    GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

Many  other  rivers  flow  in  from  the  north ;  for  the 
northland,  with  its  innumerable  lakes,  is  the  fertile  mother 
of  streams,  and  though  none  equals  the  Ottawa,  many  are 
of  large  volume.  The  St.  Maurice  is  300  miles  long,  and 
joins  the  main  river  at  Three  Rivers — a  turbulent  stream 
which,  25  miles  above  that  city,  flings  itself  into  a  chasm 
150  feet  deep  as  the  Shawinigan  Falls.  The  Batiscan,  the 
St.  Anne,  and  the  Jacques  Cartier  join  the  great  river 
before  it  reaches  Quebec.  Below  that  city  the  sullen 
waters  of  the  Saguenay  silently  add  their  volume,  black 
with  the  shadows  of  its  grim  gateway,  and  leading  up 
60  miles  an  estuary  deep  enough  to  float  the  largest 
battleship  before  relaxing  its  sternness  at  the  appropri- 
ately named  Ha  !  Ha  !  Bay. 

Eastward  of  the  Saguenay  are  many  large  rivers  flow- 
ing in  from  the  Quebec  Labrador — a  convenient  name 
used  to  denote  that  part  of  the  main  Labrador  coast  which 
drains  into  the  River  and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Chief 
among  them  are  the  Betsiamites,  the  twin  rivers  Outarde 
and  Manicouagan,  the  St.  John,  the  Moisic,  and  a  hun- 
dred others — turbulent  streams  foaming  down  from  the 
interior  wilderness  plateau. 

On  its  southern  shore  the  tributaries  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, with  one  exception,  are  not  large ;  for  the  water- 
sheds of  the  Hudson,  the  Connecticut,  the  Kennebec,  the 
Penobscot,  and  the  St.  John  press  hard  upon  the  basin 
of  the  great  river.  But  between  the  Mohawk  (a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Hudson)  and  the  Connecticut  the  St.  Law- 
rence reaches  far  into  the  south  by  the  water  of  Lake 
Champlain  and  Lake  George,  which  discharge  north- 
wards by  the  beautiful  river  Richelieu — a  long  stretch  of 
navigable  water  of  great  commercial  importance  before 
the  era  of  railways,  and  always  the  gateway  of  military 
attack  and  defence  on  the  south.  Other  streams  of  im- 
portance are  the  St.  Francis,  the  Yamaska,  the  Chaudiere, 
the  lower  Du  Loup,  until  the  valley  of  the  Matapedia  is 
reached,  which  leads  behind  the  mountains  of  Gaspe  into 
Chaleur  Bay. 

The  axis  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley  does  not  lie  east 


GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH    xxxix 

and  west.  From  the  Straits  of  Belle-Isle  in  lat.  52°  it 
leads  southwest  to  Detroit  in  lat.  42° ;  then,  turning  to  the 
northwest,  it  attains  at  Lake  Nipigon  a  height  of  50°  N., 
so  that  the  form  of  a  gigantic  "  V  "  is  roughly  traced  in 
its  course.  This  indicates  a  great  variety  of  climatic 
conditions,  modified  also  by  the  influences  of  large  bodies 
of  water ;  and  from  the  region  of  grapes  and  peaches  on 
Lake  Erie  one  may  pass  to  the  stern  and  barren  shores 
of  Belle-Isle.  The  climate  of  the  valley  is,  speaking 
generally,  continental — a  region  of  cold  winters  and  warm 
summers — where  winter  passes  suddenly  into  summer 
without  any  hesitating  spring,  and  where  the  autumn  (or 
fall,  as  the  natives  properly  call  it)  delays  long  before  it 
yields  the  heat  stored  in  its  ample  treasures  of  waters,  and 
a  summer  warmth  of  long  days,  quick  and  energetic — for 
maize  and  tobacco  and  melons  ripen  at  Quebec  and  Sault 
Ste.  Marie.  The  Tobacco  nation  of  the  Hurons  were  so 
named  by  the  French  discoverers  from  the  quality  of 
their  tobacco  grown  on  the  eastern  shores  of  Lake  Huron, 
and  Cartier  describes,  with  wondering  curiosity,  the 
maize  used  as  food  at  Quebec  and  Montreal. 

The  peculiar  "  V  "  shaped  course  of  the  main  river  val- 
ley is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  primary  Laurentian  nucleus 
of  the  continent  is  of  that  shape,  and,  along  its  edge,  in 
an  alluvial  valley  resting  on  Silurian  rocks,  the  river  flows 
and  expands  into  broad  lakes.  It  is  a  broad  generaliza- 
tion, but  to  describe  it  more  in  detail  would  unduly 
lengthen  this  sketch.  All  the  valley  was  clothed  with 
forest  when  it  was  discovered,  and  the  level  and  fertile 
fields  which  now  support  a  large  population  have  been 
wrested  from  the  wilderness  by  the  axe  of  the  early 
settlers. 

The  characteristics  of  the  Laurentian  country,  which 
forms  and  feeds  the  great  river  from  the  north,  are  very 
marked.  It  is  a  plateau,  two  or  three  hundred  miles 
wide,  of  ancient  hills  or  mountains  1000  to  1600  feet 
above  the  sea,  rounded  in  form  by  the  immense  lapse  of 
ages,  and  forest-clad  to  their  summits.  Myriads  of  lakes, 
connected  by  countless  mazes  of  streams,  gather  up  the 


xl  GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 

waters  which  flow  down  to  the  lower  level  in  rapids  and 
falls  along  the  entire  edge  of  the  valley.  At  the  heads  of 
the  streams  and  their  tributaries  the  waters  interlock  so 
that,  in  the  early  days  of  the  colony,  the  Indians  would 
pass  from  one  to  the  other,  and  bring  their  furs  to  market 
by  the  Ottawa,  St.  Maurice,  or  Saguenay,  according  as 
one  or  the  other  was  free  from  hostile  Indians. 

Such  are  the  broad  general  features  of  the  region  with 
which  this  volume  is  concerned.  Imperfect  as  this  sketch 
is,  it  may  be  of  assistance  in  explaining  the  incidental 
geographical  notices  scattered  throughout  the  narrative. 


THE   ST.   LAWRENCE   BASIN 


CHAPTER    I 

INTRODUCTORY 

THE  subject  of  the  present  volume  is  the  discov- 
ery and  exploration  of  the  northeast  coast  of 
North  America  and  of  the  great  transverse  val- 
ley of  the  St.  Lawrence  which  searches  the  con- 
tinent to  its  very  heart.  It  is  limited  to  regions  still  subject 
to  the  British  Crown,  exclusive  of  those  territories  north 
of  Hudson's  Strait,  which  can  more  conveniently  be 
treated  under  the  heading  of  Arctic  geography.  The 
theme  is  thus  limited,  not  because  of  any  intermingling  of 
political  ideas  with  a  question  of  geographical  history,  but 
because  the  great  features  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  mark  off  a  region  easily  separable 
from  the  remaining  coast,  and  distinguished  by  peculiar 
and  striking  characteristics.  After  following  the  discov- 
ery and  exploration  of  the  coast,  the  exploration  of  the 
basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  and  its  expansions  of 
inland  fresh-water  seas,  will  be  followed  up  to  the  water- 
partings  of  the  tributaries  of  Hudson's  Bay  on  the  north 
and  west,  and  of  the  Mississippi  and  other  streams  drain- 
ing into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  main  Atlantic  Ocean 
on  the  south.  In  this  part  of  the  work  it  will  be  necessary 
to  take  into  consideration  those  portions  of  the  western 
United  States  which  belong  to  the  great  basin. 

Besides  the  difficulties  proper  to  historical  investiga- 
tion, such  inquiries  as  these  present  additional  difficul- 
ties in  documents,  such  as  maps  and  charts,  quasi-scien- 
tific in  their  nature,  but  drawn  up  under  widely  erroneous 


2        THE  ST/ LAWRENCE  BASIN 

notions.  Much  of  the  confusion  which  has  been  intro- 
duced into  the  history  of  American  discovery  is  due 
to  efforts  to  treat  these  cartographical  documents  with 
the  minute  seriousness  due  only  to  the  careful  production 
of  modern  scientific  research.  The  early  cartographers 
embodied  in  their  works  the  mythology  of  their  day. 
The  unknown  interiors  of  continental  masses  were  filled 
up  with  legends  and  pTctofial  illustrations  drawn  from 
sacred  and  profane  history.  We  may  see  upon  them 
Prester  John  with  his  mitre,  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  and  the 
three  Kings  of  the  East.  Gog  and  Magog  are  shut  up  in 
the  far  north  behind  a  chain  of  mountains  waiting  for  the 
time  appointed  in  Ezekiel  xxxix.  for  their  irruption,  and 
Jerusalem,  adorned  with  towered  structures,  is  set, 
according  to  the  prophets,  in  the  centre  of  the  whole 
earth.  Then  there  are  strange  monsters  portrayed  in  all 
seriousness — men  with  pigs'  heads,  men  with  only  one 
foot,  men  with  ears  large  enough  to  cover  their  bodies, 
and,  even  in  the  sea,  are  strange  mythical  creatures  like 
the  rcmora,  a  fish  six  inches  long  which  has  the  power  to 
stop  a  ship  under  full  sail.  It  requires  discursive  read- 
ing to  understand  all  these  allusions.  When,  on  an 
important  map  made  in  Jacques  Cartier's  time,  we  see 
pigmies  drawn  up  with  bows  and  arrows  in  deadly  con- 
flict with  an  army  of  cranes  in  the  region  surrounding  the 
present  capital  of  Canada,  we  know  that  the  cartographer 
thought  he  was  portraying  a  part  of  Tartary.  The  dis- 
covery of  America  was  a  very  gradual  process,  and  out- 
side of  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy  it  attracted,  for  a 
long  time,  very  little  attention.  English  literature  is 
unconscious  of  Cabot,  Columbus,  and  Vespucci  until 
A.  D.  1553,  when  Richard  Eden  began  to  write. 

Then  again  we  must  take  into  account  the  fact  that 
these  old  maps  are  drawn  to  magnetic  meridians,  while 
ours  are  always  drawn  to  the  true  meridian.  This  prin- 
ciple alters  the  lie  of  a  coast  and  the  direction  of  a 
course  and  the  neglect  of  considering  it  has  been  the 
cause  of  nmch  controversy.  Thus  the  course  from  Cape 
Race  to  Cape  Breton  is  laid  down  on  the  oldest  maps  on 


INTRODUCTORY  3 

a  due  west  line,  and  in  the  contemporary  description 
these  points  are  plainly  said  to  lie  east  and  west.  So  they 
do  by  compass,  but  the  true  course  is  more  nearly  west- 
southwest,  for  Cape  Breton  is  in  lat.  45°  57',  and  Cape 
Race  in  lat.  46°  39',  and  there  is  a  drop  of  42  miles  to  the 
south  in  that  short  stretch  of  coast.  The  coast  line  on 
La  Cosa's  map  thus  explained  becomes  intelligible.  It 
will  be  seen,  later  on,  how  seriously  a  long  course  across 
the  ocean  is  affected  by  magnetic  variation,  but  attention 
is  now  directed  to  its  effect  in  distorting  the  coast  lines. 

Determinations  of  latitude  were  not  easily  made  from 
the  deck  of  a  vessel  with  the  imperfect  instruments  of 
that  period ;  but  when  made  on  firm  land  they  were  fairly 
accurate.  Nevertheless  it  is  a  fact  that,  in  the  earlier 
maps,  the  Antilles  are  laid  down  eight  degrees  too  far 
north,  being  all  placed  north  of  the  tropic,  instead  of 
being  all  south  of  it.  Longitudes  are,  however,  far  astray, 
for,  before  chronometers,  it  was  only  on  rare  occa- 
sions that  longitude  could  be  determined  with  the  least 
degree  of  accuracy.  On  the  northeast  coast  of  America 
the  longitudes  were  from  fourteen  to  twenty  degrees  out 
of  the  way,  but  in  estimating  longitudes  in  the  Eastern 
Hemisphere  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  experts  differed 
to  the  extent  of  forty-six  degrees.  The  subject  is  fur- 
ther complicated  by  the  different  estimations  of  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  earth  and  the  consequent  length  of  a 
degree.  Translating  all  these  differences  into  our 
standard  nautical  miles,  it  will  appear  that  a  degree  upon 
the  equator  of  Columbus  was  45.33  miles,  of  Ptolemy  50 
miles,  of  current  opinion  in  Spain  (in  A.  D.  1500),  53.33 
miles,  of  the  Badajos  convention  and  of  Champlain, 
56  miles.  When,  therefore,  we  transfer  distances  from 
early  maps  to  our  maps  made  with  degrees  of  60 
nautical  miles,  we  shall  go  astray  if  we  do  not  make  the 
necessary  compensations. 

Finally  the  old  maps  abound  in  errors  of  spelling,  and 
of  transcription  and  translation,  where  a  cartographer  or 
engraver  is  following  the  copy  of  a  language  he  does  not 
understand.     Only  slowly,  and  with  occasional  relapses, 


4       THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

did  geographical  science  struggle  to  its  present  perfec- 
tion. Only  slowly  did  the  popular  mind  go  back  to  the 
science  of  the  Greeks,  and  as  slowly  did  modern  science 
pass  beyond  it. 

That  the  earth  is  spherical  is  a  belief  which,  in  the 
fourth  century  before  Christ,  was  generally  accepted  by 
the  Greeks.  Their  astronomers  observed  in  eclipses  of 
the  moon  that  the  shadow  of  the  earth  is  circular  and  the 
phenomena  attending  the  appearance  or  disappearance  on 
the  horizon  of  arriving  and  departing  ships  were  familiar 
to  a  sea-faring  people.  This  belief  was  held  in  a  thor- 
oughly scientific  manner.  Latitudes  were  determined  by 
the  shadow  of  the  gnomon,  and  attempts  were  made  to 
measure  the  circumference  of  the  earth,  with  results 
which  became  the  basis  of  calculation  for  the  sailors  who 
discovered  America. 

In  the  decay  and  destruction  of  the  old  civilisation  and 
the  confusion,  long  protracted,  which  attended  the  migra- 
tion and  settlement  of  the  new  nations,  the  geographical 
science  of  the  Greeks  was  lost,  and  very  crude  and 
erroneous  notions  prevailed  generally  in  Europe.  The 
study  of  geography  first  revived  among  the  Arabs ;  for 
the  works  of  the  Greek  philosophers  were  translated  into 
Arabic,  and  schools  of  geography  flourished  at  Bagdad 
and  Cordova  in  the  ninth  century  of  our  era.  The  works 
of  the  Arabian  geographers  were  translated  into  Latin, 
and  in  that  way  the  writings  of  the  Greek  philosophers 
again  became  known  in  the  West.  In  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries  the  dawn  of  reviving  literature  and 
science  in  Europe  appeared  with  the  founding  of  the 
great  universities  and  the  rise  of  the  philosophy  of  the 
schools. 

To  allude  to  many  of  those  scholars  who,  in  the 
seclusion  of  a  cloister,  kept  the  lamp  of  learning  alight 
during  the  Dark  Ages  would  lead  too  far  afield.  Friar 
Roger  Bacon  in  his  "  Opus  Majus  "  (1267)  and  Cardinal 
d'Ailly,  in  his  "  Imago  Mundi  "  (1410),  are  the  two  who 
had  the  most  influence  in  geography ;  for  Bacon's  views, 
as  presented   and  reinforced  in  d'Ailly 's  work,  were  the 


INTRODUCTORY  5 

chief  springs  of  the  convictions  of  Columbus.  The  great 
sailors  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  were  not 
direct  students  of  the  Greek  and  Arab  science;  but 
derived  their  knowledge  indirectly  through  the  writings 
of  the  great  scholars  of  the  Middle  Ages  which,  being  in 
Latin,  were  then  open  to  all.  That  the  belief  in  the 
sphericity  of  the  earth  had  not  been  lost,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, was  generally  accepted  by  the  learned,  is  manifest 
in  Dante's  Divine  Comedy.  Without  hesitation  he 
assumes  it  and  makes  Virgil  conduct  him  down,  through 
the  earth,  to  the  centre  of  gravity,  where  Lucifer  is  fixed, 
as  it  was  impossible  he  could  fall  lower.  From  that  point 
Dante  ascends,  with  his  guide,  to  the  surface  of  the  earth 
in  the  opposite  hemisphere,  where  he  sees,  for  the  first 
time,  the  constellation  of  the  Southern  Cross.  Dante 
had  studied  at  the  great  universities  of  Europe,  and  the 
state  of  geographic  and  astronomic  knowledge  at  that 
time  is  reflected  in  his  poem.  Grotesque  as  is  the  idea  of 
having  to  turn  head  over  heels  in  the  centre  of  the  earth, 
which  they  of  course  had  to  do  in  order  to  ascend,  it  is 
of  interest  in  showing  that  the  conception  of  the  earth  as 
a  sphere  was  firmly  grasped,  and  that  gravitation  towards 
the  centre  of  the  earth  was  recognised  as  pervading  all 
nature.  The  treatise  on  the  astrolabe,  which  Chaucer 
compiled  for  the  use  of  his  little  son  Lewis,  also  shows 
that  the  study  of  astronomy  in  its  practical  application  to 
latitude  and  longitude  was  a  favourite  one  among  the 
learned  in  England  in  the  fourteenth  century. 

Two  centuries,  very  nearly,  elapsed  from  Dante  to 
Columbus,  and  in  them  had  occurred  the  stir  of  thought 
caused  by  the  popularisation  of  ancient  learning  and 
science  consequent  upon  the  invention  of  the  art  of 
printing.  Then  was  the  very  height  of  the  Renaissance, 
and  the  great  cities  of  the  south  of  Europe  became  cen- 
tres of  keen  interest  in  geographical  science.  In  this 
interest  popes  and  princes  shared  to  such  an  extent  that 
^  these  studies  became  the  fashion  among  courtiers,  while 
the  daring  and  skilful  sailors  of  the  maritime  cites  of 
Italy   and    of    Portugal,    Catalonia   and    Minorca    v^ere 


6       THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

extending  the  bounds  of  discovery  into  all  seas.  It  is 
difficult  to  realise  at  the  present  time  how  little  England 
counted  for  in  all  this  stir  of  maritime  extension,  and  yet 
it  was  an  English  ship  and  an  English  crew  which  first 
touched  the  continent  of  America,  though  the  moving 
spirit  and  captain  commanding  was  an  Italian,  born  in 
Genoa  and  trained  in  Venice. 

It  may  seem  surprising  that  the  Western  Ocean  was  first 
crossed  at  its  widest  part ;  but  the  surprise  will  disappear 
upon  a  comparison  of  the  different  conditions  of  naviga- 
tion in  the  North  and  South  Atlantic.  Columbus  sailed 
in  the  region  of  the  trade  winds  and,  throughout  the 
whole  voyage,  the  weather  was  fair  and  the  wind  con- 
stant on  the  ship's  quarter.  He  was  in  the  great  equa- 
torial current,  and  the  drift  of  the  ocean  was  with  him  on 
his  western  course.  It  was  fair-weather  sailing,  and 
the  constant  favouring  conditions  themselves  alarmed  the 
common  sailors,  for  they  thought  they  had  reached  a 
region  where  the  winds  never  blew  back  towards  Spain. 
In  the  North  Atlantic  it  is  far  different.  North  of  lat. 
40°  the  drift  of  the  ocean  is  towards  Europe,  and  the  pre- 
vailing winds  are  from  the  west.  Westward  from  Ire- 
land to  America  is  one  of  the  most  unquiet  regions  of 
ocean  in  the  world,  and  a  vessel  on  a  westward  course  in 
those  latitudes  will  have  to  contend,  not  only  with  adverse 
winds  and  broken  weather,  but  with  frequent  and  dense 
fogs.  Therefore  it  was  that,  although  in  the  north  the 
continents  draw  together  and  the  degrees  of  longitude 
are  much  shorter,  the  efforts  made  from  Bristol  were 
baffled  until  the  success  of  Columbus  had  demonstrated 
the  existence  of  land  within  reach  across  the  ocean. 

It  does  not  lie  within  the  scope  of  this  volume  to  dwell 
upon  the  voyages  of  Columbus  or  upon  the  Bulls  of  par- 
tition and  the  treaties  which  are  supposed  to  have  divided 
the  world  between  Spain  and  Portugal.  It  is  important, 
however,  to  observe  that  as  the  sailors  of  that  day  had 
no  means  of  ascertaining  longitudes  excepting  by  dead' 
reckoning,  it  could  and  did  happen  that  the  line  of  parti- 
tion,  settled   in    1494   between   Spain   and   Portugal   at 


INTRODUCTORY  7 

Tordesillas,  was  supposed  to  cut  the  coast  of  North  Amer- 
ica at  what  is  now  Novia  Scotia.  After  some  hesitation 
on  the  part  of  Spain,  all  the  coast  of  the  maritime  prov- 
inces of  Canada  and  of  Newfoundland  were,  under  these 
documents,  tacitly  conceded  to  Portugal.  The  present 
volume  then  will  deal  only  incidentally  with  Spanish 
voyages  or  Spanish  maps.  It  is  with  Portuguese  and 
French  sailors  and  with  their  maps  it  will  be  most  con- 
cerned ;  for,  although  the  English  under  the  leading  of 
Cabot  first  discovered  the  coast  of  North  America  from 
Labrador  to  Cape  Hatteras,  they  did  not  follow  up  the 
discovery  by  such  occupation  as  would  give  them  a  title 
under  international  law ;  nor  did  they  even  attempt  it 
until  over  one  hundred  years  had  elapsed,  and  prior  occu- 
pation had  established  the  French  title  to  that  portion  of 
North  America  now  known  as  Canada. 

The  circumstances  which  led  up  to  the  discovery  of 
America  cannot  be  fully  explained  without  some  refer- 
ence to  the  groups  of  islands  in  mid-ocean  which  were 
the  outposts  of  Spain  and  Portugal  in  their  maritime 
enterprises.  The  Canary  Islands  are  only  sixty-five 
miles  from  the  coast  of  Africa.  They  were  known  to 
the  Carthaginians  and  Romans  as  the  Fortunate  Islands, 
and  Ptolemy  fixed  there  his  first  meridian  of  longitude. 
They  had  been  forgotten,  but  in  the  thirteenth  century 
were  occupied  by  the  Genoese  and  at  the  opening  of  the 
fifteenth  century  were  conquered  by  Norman  adventurers 
who  held  them  under  Spanish  protection.  They  were 
for  Spain  the  point  of  departure  for  the  New  World,  and 
ships  bound  to  the  West  Indies  reached  there  the  regions 
of  the  favouring  trade  winds,  and  could  refit  if  necessary. 
They  were  little  connected  with  the  discoveries  on  the 
northeast  coast  of  America.  They  are  chiefly  interest- 
ing because,  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies, the  first  meridian  of  longitude  for  most  of  the 
European  nations  passed  through  Ferro  (Hierro),  a 
small  island,  the  most  western  of  the  group. 

The  other  groups  belonged  to  Portugal  and  had  been 
colonised  by  active  and  energetic  settlers   seasoned  by 


8        THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

longf  familiarity  with  the  hazards  of  the  ocean.  The  Cape 
de  Verde  Islands  are  in  lat.  i6°  N.  They  are  300  miles 
from  Africa  and  were  of  great  assistance  to  the  Portu- 
guese sailors  on  their  way  to  the  East  Indies.  The  names 
of  two  of  them,  Fogo  and  Bonavista  (Boavista), 
repeated  on  the  east  coast  of  Newfoundland,  mark  the 
presence  of  Portuguese  there  at  an  early  date.  Fogo 
(fire)  is  an  appropriate  name  for  an  island  with  an  active 
volcano,  but  on  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  it  is  evidently 
a  reminiscence,  as  is  also  Bonavista.  The  Madeira 
Islands  were  rediscovered  about  A.  D.  1420.  Columbus 
married  a  daughter  of  Perestrello,  a  distinguished  sailor 
for  Prince  Henry  of  Portugal  and  coloniser  of  Porto 
Santo,  one  of  the  group.  He  resided  for  a  time  on  the 
island,  and  his  son  Diego  was  born  there.  There  also, 
by  Perestrello's  papers  and  charts  (which  he  had  access 
to),  all  the  secrets  of  the  Portuguese  discoveries  were 
opened  to  him,  and  on  the  strand  560  miles  from  the 
mainland  of  Europe  the  billows  of  the  great  Western 
Ocean  washed  up  strange  fragments  from  the  hidden 
and  mysterious  world  beyond. 

Furthest  to  the  west  and  north,  in  the  latitude  of  Lis- 
bon and  850  miles  from  the  continent  of  Europe,  is  the 
group  of  the  Azores,  rediscovered  and  colonised  by  the 
Portuguese  in  A.  D.  1431-32.  On  the  island  of  Fayal  in 
this  group  resided  for  some  time  Martin  Behaim,  one  of 
the  great  navigators  and  geographers  of  the  age  of  dis- 
covery. He  married  the  daughter  of  Job  de  Huertar, 
who  colonised  it  in  1466,  and  in  1489  he  had  a  son  born 
there.  He  spent  much  of  his  life  in  Portugal  and  the 
Azores,  although  he  was  born  at  Nuremburg.  While 
Columbus  was  at  sea  on  his  first  voyage  of  discovery 
Behaim  was  in  Nuremburg,  and  he  constructed  a  globe 
which  he  presented  to  the  city.  It  is  still  preserved  there 
and  is  one  of  the  most  important  historical  monuments 
extant.  All  inquiries  concerning  the  early  history  of 
America  should  be  preceded  by  a  careful  study  of 
Behaim's  globe,  for  on  it  is  the  contour  of  the  eastern 
coast  of  Asia  based  on  accounts  of  Marco  Polo,  and  the 


Martin    Behaim's  Globe.      A. D.    1492 
(The    Atlantic    coast    omitting    the    legends) 


I 


INTRODUCTORY  9 

earliest  maps  of  America  adopted  these  outlines  to  fill  in 
the  undiscovered  portions  of  the  coast  line  of  the  west. 

While  these  actually  existing  island  outposts  upon  the 
Western  Ocean  strongly  assisted  in  the  discovery  of 
the  Western  World,  there  were  many  islands  non-ex- 
istent, save  in  the  imagination,  which  nevertheless 
stimulated  the  efforts  of  the  sailors  of  that  age.  The  old 
maps  contain  many  imaginary  islands,  and,  while  their 
positions  often  change  on  the  maps,  the  legendary  asso- 
ciations of  some  of  them  were  of  special  interest  to  the 
south  and  of  others  to  the  north  of  Europe.  Antilia  was 
laid  down  on  almost  all  charts  in  the  latitude  of  the 
Strait  of  Gibraltar.  It  was  sometimes  confounded  (as 
in  the  legends  on  Behaim's  globe)  with  the  island  of 
the  Seven  Cities.  Both  were  firmly  believed  in  by  the 
learned  as  well  as  the  unlearned  in  Spain  and  Portugal. 
The  name  of  the  former  persists  to  this  day  in  the 
Greater  and  Lesser  Antilles  of  the  West  Indies.  The 
latter  island  was  believed  to  be  the  refuge  of  seven 
bishops  who,  with  their  flocks,  fled,  after  the  defeat  of 
Don  Roderick,  from  the  fury  of  the  Moors.  Later  the 
name  was  transferred  to  the  mainland  of  America  and 
to  a  region  northeast  from  Mexico.  Two  other  islands, 
Isle  Maida  and  Isle  Verde,  are  found  on  all  old  charts 
and  in  Faden's  Atlas,  published  as  late  as  1776,  Mayda 
Island  is  laid  down  in  long.  20°  W.,  and  Green  Island  in 
long.  24°  W. 

These  islands  appealed  to  Mediterranean  sailors.  The 
imagination  of  the  northern  people  was  stirred  by  legends 
of  the  island  of  St.  Brandan  and  of  Brazil.  The 
imaginary  island  of  O'Brazil  may  be  found  in  Jeffrey's 
American  Atlas  (published  in  1776)  west  of  Cape  Clear 
in  long.  17°  35'  W.  The  legend  of  St.  Brandan  is  Celtic 
and  is  of  very  old  date.  The  Saint  was  accompanied,  on 
his  voyage  to  the  Island  of  the  Saints,  by  St.  Malo  of 
Brittany,  known  in  Normandy  as  St.  Maelou,  whose 
beautiful  church  is  one  of  the  chief  ornaments  of  Rouen. 
Martin  Behaim  (a  German  by  birth)  placed  the  island 
far  to  the  south,  but  it  was  usually  supposed  to  lie  west 


10      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

from  Ireland.  He  gave  the  date  of  the  voyage  as  A.  D, 
565.  It  may  be  found  on  maps  as  late  as  1755.  The 
legends  relating  to  the  adventurous  expeditions  of  these 
two  Saints  are  very  numerous  and  interesting.  Tenny- 
son's poem  "  The  Voyage  of  Maeldune  "  is  one  of  them. 
Maeldune  found  the  island  and  one  of  Brandan's  com- 
panions upon  it. 

The  island  of  Brasil,  O'Brazil,  or  Bresil  is  a  persistent, 
but  more  mysterious,  island ;  for  the  etymology  of  the 
name  is  unknown.  It  is  probably  a  corruption  of  the 
name  of  an  Oriental  dye-wood  yielding  a  rich  red  colour, 
and,  when  such  wood  was  brought  from  South  America, 
the  land  (first  called  Santa  Cruz)  where  it  was  found 
was  named  Brazil.  The  word  is  used  by  Chaucer  in 
the  sense  of  a  dye,  and  the  island  of  Brazil  may  be  "  the 
crimson  island "  seen  by  strained  imagination  in  the 
crimson  sunsets  of  the  stormy  North  Atlantic.  No 
legends  are  attached  to  it,  but  from  A.  D.  1480  to  the 
year  of  Cabot's  voyage  the  Bristol  people  had  been  trying 
to  find  it.  It  was  usually  laid  down  as  west  and  north  of 
Ireland  and  so  it  is  found  on  Behaim's  globe.  We  may 
safely  dismiss  as  mythical  all  that  has  been  claimed  for 
Basque  discoveries  in  America  prior  to  Columbus  and 
Cabot.  They  are  vague  and  legendary  statements,  based 
on  no  records  or  authorities  of  any  weight.  Some 
writers  cite  Andrea  Bianco's  Atlas  (A.  D.  1436)  in  proof; 
for  they  find  in  it  an  island  "  Scorafixa  or  Stokafixa,"  as 
they  think  in  the  northwest  Atlantic  which  they  take  to 
signify  stockfish  and  to  lie  in  the  position  of  Newfound- 
land. Others  have  attempted  to  show  a  similiarity 
between  the  Basque  and  American  languages,  but  with- 
out success,  and  it  has  been  said  that  Cabot  found  the 
"  Basque  word  bacallaos  "  in  use  for  codfish  on  the  New- 
foundland coast.  These  statements  will  be  fully  dis- 
cussed in  later  chapters.  The  voyage  of  Skolno  (for  the 
king  of  Denmark)  to  the  Labrador  coast  in  1476  is  also 
apocryphal. 

The  globe  of  Behaim,  then,  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
in    American    history.      It    is    a    contemporary    graphic 


INTRODUCTORY  ii 

record  by  a  sailor  and  geographer  of  the  first  rank,  who 
was  mixed  up,  theoretically  and  practically,  with  the  mar- 
itime enterprises  of  the  age.  It  shows  clearly  that  it  was 
not  a  surprise  to  learned  scholars  or  skilled  mariners  in 
Europe  when  Columbus  found  land  across  the  Western 
Ocean.  A  greater  problem  presented  itself  later  when 
men  began  to  see  that  the  land  found  was  not  Cathay  and 
that  there  existed  a  barrier  continental  mass  unsuspected 
and  undreamed  of,  which  shut  off  direct  communication 
with  Asia.  Against  this  barrier  the  sailors  of  western 
Europe  were  to  strive  for  two  hundred  years  more,  and 
their  efforts  were  continued  in  that  passionate  search  for 
a  northwest  passage  which  has  calmed  down  only  in  our 
own  time. 

In  the  earliest  documents  of  discovery  every  land  found 
in  the  West  was  supposed  to  be  an  island  more  or  less 
large — an  island  in  an  archipelago  which  we  see  on 
Behaim's  globe  guarding  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia.  These 
coalesced  into  a  continent  as  the  coast  was  more  narrowly 
searched.  Sebastain  Cabot  wrote  to  Ramusio  that  he 
verily  believed  that  all  the  north  part  of  America  is 
divided  into  islands.  He  was  right,  as  any  map  of  that 
region  will  show,  but  he  had  not  reckoned  upon  a  bar- 
rier of  ice.  He  seems  to  have  suspected  the  existence  of 
an  opening  somewhere  in  the  region  of  Bacallaos,  and 
Stephen  Gomez  certainly  did.  That  suspicion  it  was  the 
task  of  Jacques  Cartier  to  justify  and,  although  he  did 
not  find  a  passage  to  the  Great  South  Sea,  he  found  an 
avenue  into  the  very  heart  of  the  continent  through  the 
most  wonderful  system  of  waterways  in  the  world. 

Although  Balboa,  Cortes,  and  Pizarro  demonstrated 
that  at  the  south,  America  was  separate  from  Asia,  it  was 
confidently  believed  until  much  later  times  that,  on  the 
north,  Asia  was  continuous  with  the  northern  part 
of  America,  and  that  the  Great  South  Sea  washed  the 
southern  shore  of  this  immensely  prolonged  joint  conti- 
nent. In  the  royal  commission  to  Cartier  this  belief  is 
plainly  apparent.  Jean  Allefonse,  the  pilot  of  Roberval, 
wrote  that  "  these  lands   (Canada)  belong  to  Tartary," 


12      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

and  are  a  "  continuation  of  Asia,"  and  his  belief  is  em- 
bodied in  the  maps  of  the  French  school  of  cartography. 
The  early  explorers  persistently  reiterate  that  "  hawks  " 
were  found;  as  if  that  fact  had  some  bearing  on  their 
discoveries.  Hawks  are  not  characteristic  specially  of 
the  northern  parts  of  America,  but  when  we  read  in 
Marco  Polo  that  Kublai  Khan  took  10,000  falconers  on 
his  hunting  expeditions  with  gerfalcons  and  other  hawks 
in  great  numbers  we  can  guess  what  the  minds  of  the 
old  navigators  were  dwelling  upon. 

And  so  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  the  French  sought 
unwearying  for  the  gateway  of  the  west.  Cartier  sailed 
up  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Montreal  and  heard  stories  of 
great  seas  a  few  weeks'  journey  westward — nay,  at 
Hochelaga,  from  the  top  of  Mount  Royal,  he  saw  with  his 
own  eyes  the  glimmer  of  Lake  St.  Louis  and  the  Lake  of 
Two  Mountains ;  and  he  might  well  have  wondered 
whether  the  way  to  Cathay  led  by  the  west  over  the  one, 
or  by  the  southwest  over  the  other.  Champlain,  lured 
by  the  same  hope,  followed  up  the  Ottawa  in  a  bark 
canoe,  and  was  brought  by  his  Indian  guides  to  the  Mer 
Douce — the  fresh-water  sea  of  Lake  Huron.  The  same 
dream  distracted  the  cares  of  the  missionary  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Superior,  harassed  by  the  perverse  malig- 
nity of  his  savage  flock ;  it  inspired  the  saintly  Mar- 
quette and  the  tireless  Jolliet  on  their  lonely  journey 
down  the  unknown  Mississippi,  wondering  as  they 
paddled  whether  it  fell  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  or  into 
the  Vermilion  Sea ;  and  still,  at  the  present  day,  a  suburb 
of  the  busy  city  of  Montreal  re-echoes  the  same  quest  in 
its  name  Lachine,  and  recalls  the  memory  of  an  indomit- 
able spirit,  a  ruined  fortune,  and  a  tragic  death. 


CHAPTER  II 

JOHN  CABOT's  first  VOYAGE — DISCOVERY 

CANADA,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  consists 
of  the  ancient  Province  of  Quebec,  which,  in 
1791,  was  divided  into  the  provinces  of  Upper 
and  Lower  Canada.  In  1841  these  were  re- 
united into  one  province.  Of  that  Canada  Jacques  Cartier 
was  the  discoverer.  As  Egypt  depends  upon  the  River 
Nile  and  is  inseparable  from  it  in  thought,  so  that  Canada 
— old  Canada — is  inseparable  from  the  River  St.  Law- 
rence and  its  lake  expansions,  and  upon  the  waters  of  that 
great  river  Jacques  Cartier,  a  Breton  of  St.  Malo,  was  the 
first  European  to  sail.  On  July  i,  1867,  the  British 
provinces,  excepting  Newfoundland,  were  confederated 
and  merged  into  one  Dominion.  This,  with  its  after 
accretions,  is  the  Canada  now  existing;  and  of  Canada 
so  constituted  John  Cabot  was  the  discoverer ;  for  in  1497 
he  landed  upon  the  shore  of  one  of  its  eastern  provinces 
and  in  that  and  the  following  year  he  sailed  along  its 
Atlantic  seaboard,  as  well  as  along  the  outer  coasts  of 
Newfoundland. 

The  circumstances  of  this  momentous  discovery  were 
well  known  in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  some  of 
them  are  recorded  by  Hakluyt,  but  in  the  contemporary 
annals  of  England  there  are  only  scanty  notices  of  them. 
For  one  hundred  years  the  English  thought  little  of 
their  discoveries  across  the  ocean,  and  did  not  take 
enough  interest  in  them  to  claim  exclusive  rights.  In  the 
meantime  other  nations  also  entered  upon  them  and  when, 
two  hundred  years  after  the  primary  discovery,  a  struggle 
arose  among  the  colonising  nations  for  these  western 
lands,  the  diplomatists  of  the  other  nations  either  chal- 
lenged the  fact  of  any  discovery  by  England,  or  accepted 
it  only  for  the  barren  and  icy  regions  of  Northern  Labra- 

13 


14      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

dor,  or  Greenland.  It  was  Richard  Biddle  of  Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania,  who  re-opened  the  whole  question  in  a 
work  based  upon  documentary  authorities  and  first 
printed  at  Philadelphia  in  1831.  He  wrote  with  great 
originality  and  independent  research,  but  new  and  most 
important  material  has  since  his  time  been  brought  to 
light,  during  the  long  controversy  which  was  inaugurated 
by  his  stimulating  book. 

There  are  now  between  seventy  and  eighty  millions 
of  English-speaking  people  in  North  America ;  but 
the  early  history  of  the  continent  must  be  sought  in 
Spanish,  Portuguese,  and  Italian  literature.  The  first 
ship  to  touch  the  mainland  of  the  Western  World  was 
an  English  ship ;  but  the  main  proofs  of  that  fact  must  be 
gleaned  from  the  archives  of  Southern  Europe.  The 
testimony  is  more  weighty  for  that  reason,  since  it  is  not 
coloured  by  national  pride,  and  it  is  impartial,  because  it 
is  unconscious.  The  intellectual  as  well  as  the  com- 
mercial prominence  of  the  Italian  people  is  emphasised 
by  the  facts  that  Columbus,  a  Genoese,  discovered 
America  for  Spain ;  John  Cabot,  a  Genoese- Venetian, 
discovered  the  mainland  for  England ;  Juan  Verrazano, 
a  Florentine,  created  a  claim  for  France  by  his  voyage 
along  the  coast  of  the  Northern  United  States  and 
Acadia ;  and  the  whole  Western  World  was  named  Amer- 
ica after  another  Florentine,  Amerigo  Vespucci. 

In  those  days  Bristol  was,  in  all  England,  second  only 
to  London  in  importance.  Wealthy  merchants  carried 
on  extensive  trade  with  the  northern  parts  of  Europe  and 
especially  with  Iceland.  There  was,  in  truth,  more  mari- 
time enterprise  in  Bristol  than  in  any  other  part  of  the 
realm.  The  trade  in  codfish  was  very  large  on  account 
of  the  numerous  fast  days  of  the  church,  and  it  centred 
at  Bristol.  Recent  scepticism  has  thrown  doubt  upon 
the  recorded  voyage  of  Columbus  from  Bristol  to  Iceland 
in  1477;  but  even  if  that  story  be  entirely  false,  it  is  of 
very  early  invention,  and  is  sufficient  to  establish,  the 
importance  of  Bristol  as  the  key-point  of  northern  com- 
merce.    It  is  not  smooth-water  sailing  in  these  northern 


JOHN   CABOT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  15 

seas,  and  in  the  west  of  England  a  hardy  breed  of  mari- 
ners was  trained,  who  were  the  predecessors  of  the  fisher- 
men of  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland.  We  read  of  many 
attempts  of  Bristol  sailors  before  A.  D.  1497  to  discover 
the  secret  of  the  Western  Ocean,  and  one  expedition,  made 
in  1480,  under  command  of  Captain  Thlyde,  was  out 
for  nine  weeks.  It  was  a  most  determined  attempt,  but, 
although  Thlyde  is  described  in  contemporary  annals  as 
the  most  scientific  mariner  in  all  England,  the  west  winds 
were  too  much  for  him,  and  he  was  driven  back,  in 
September,  to  shelter  on  the  west  coast  of  Ireland.  In 
the  seven  years  immediately  preceding  Cabot's  voyage 
two  or  three  attempts  were  made  every  year  to  discover 
the  island  of  Brasil.  There  is  in  fact  one  solitary  pointed 
crag  in  that  part  of  the  ocean,  and  it  first  appears  as  Rock- 
all  on  the  charts  about  A.  D.  1600.  It  is  260  miles  north- 
west from  Ireland — a  sheer  cliff  of  black  granite,  white 
at  top  with  sea  birds ;  only  100  yards  in  circumference  at 
its  base,  but  surrounded  by  a  bank  of  considerable  extent, 
the  resort  of  innumerable  codfish.  There  is  evidence  to 
show  that  within  200  or  300  years  an  exposed  sandbank 
existed  round  the  rock,  but  it  could  never  have  been  the 
Crimson  Island — Brasil — of  the  Bristol  sailor's  quest. 

At  what  time  John  Cabot  arrived  in  Bristol  is  not 
definitely  known.  He  was  Genoese  by  birth,  but  had  been 
naturalised  in  V^enice  after  fifteen  years'  residence,  and 
he  came  with  his  wife  and  three  sons  into  a  community 
prepared  for  any  maritime  enterprise.  To  the  tales  of 
the  island  of  Brandan  and  Brasil  in  the  North  he  could 
add  the  legends  of  Antilia  and  the  Seven  Cities  of  more 
southern  latitudes.  He  added  also,  what  was  far  more 
important,  the  experience  of  one  trained  in  the  wide- 
extended  commerce  of  Venice,  and  a  firm  belief  in  the 
rotundity  of  the  earth  and  all  which  that  implied.  Of 
his  three  sons,  Sebastian  only  is  heard  of  again.  He  rose 
to  eminent  positions  in  the  naval  service,  first  of  Spain 
and  then  of  England, 

News  of  the  success  of  Columbus  in  1492  spread  over 
Europe,  and  incited  the  emulation  of  Cabot.     He  was  an 


i6      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Italian  stranger,  poor  and  without  friends.  The  Bristol 
merchants  may  have  lent  him  influence  at  court  to  attract 
the  attention  of  Henry  VII.,  but  that  monarch  remem- 
bered the  application  of  Bartholomew  Columbus,  and  was 
ready  enough  to  approve  of  an  enterprise  which,  without 
cost  to  himself,  might  result  in  extending  his  power.  It 
is  worthy  of  note  that  the  petition  to  the  king  was  in  the 
names  of  John  Cabot,  citizen  of  Venice,  and  his  sons 
Lewis,  Sebastian,  and  Sancius.  There  was  no  other 
name  upon  it.  Letters  patent  were  granted,  dated 
March  5,  1496,  and  were  made  out  to  John  Cabot  and  his 
sons  alone.  The  letters  gave  "  full  and  free  authority 
&c.,  of  navigation  to  all  parts,  countries  and  seas  of  the 
east,  west,  and  north,  under  our  banners,  flags,  and 
ensigns."  The  King  did  not  authorise  any  discovery  to 
the  south ;  for  there  the  Spaniards  were  in  occupation. 
The  Cabots  were  empowered  to  sail  "  with  five  ships  or 
vessels  of  whatever  burden  or  quality  soever  they  be,  and 
with  as  many  mariners  or  men  as  they  will  have  with 
them  in  the  said  ships  upon  their  oivn  proper  costs  and 
charges;  to  seek  out,  discover,  and  find  whatsoever 
islands,  countries,  regions  or  provinces  of  the  heathens 
or  infidels,  in  whatever  part  of  the  world  they  be,  which 
before  this  time  have  been  unknown  to  all  Christians." 
The  letters  patent  then  go  on  to  grant  the  right  to  fly 
the  English  flag  over  such  new  lands  and  '*  conquer, 
occupy  and  possess  as  vassals  or  governors,  &c.,  &c.," 
and  to  acquire  "  for  us  the  dominion,  title,  and  jurisdic- 
tion over  those  towns,  castles,  islands,  and  mainlands  so 
discovered."  It  is  further  stipulated  that  all  arrivals 
from  discovered  lands  shall  be  confined  to  the  port  of 
Bristol,  and  that  one-fifth  of  the  whole  profits  shall  be 
reserved  to  the  King's  use.  On  the  other  hand  all  goods 
imported  from  the  new  lands  are  to  be  free  of  duty,  and 
the  Cabots  are  to  have  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  there- 
with. Finally,  the  King  enjoins  his  subjects  to  give  to  the 
grantees  "  all  favour  and  help  as  well  in  arming  the  ships 
or  vessels,  as  in  supplying  them  with  stores  and  victuals 
to  be  paid  for  by  their  own  money."     The  King  was 


JOHN   CABOT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  17 

very  careful  not  to  risk  anything.  The  Cabots  had  the 
risk,  and  the  King  was  to  have  one-fifth  of  the  profits. 
The  chief  advantage  of  the  letters  patent  was  to  give 
official  status  to  the  voyage,  and  to  enable  Cabot  to 
take  possession,  under  the  protection  of  England,  of  any 
country  he  might  discover. 

Cabot's  movements  at  once  attracted  the  attention  of 
Dr.  de  Puebla,  the  Spanish  ambassador  at  London ;  and 
he  wrote  to  inform  his  master,  Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  of 
the  proposed  voyage.  This  letter  is  not  extant,  but  its 
contents  may  be  gathered  from  the  King's  reply.  This 
is  dated  March  28,  1496,  and  was  written  from  Tortosa 
in  Aragon ;  so  that  de  Puebla's  letter  must  have  been 
written  before  the  letters  patent  were  actually  issued. 
Cabot  could  not  have  been  very  long  in  England,  for  the 
ambassador  wrote  "  that  a  person  like  Columbus  had 
come  to  England  to  engage  the  King  in  a  similar  enter- 
prise to  that  of  the  Indies,  but  without  prejudice  to  Spain 
or  Portugal."  The  King  replied  that  "  he  was  at  liberty, 
but  that  it  could  not  be  done  without  infringing  upon  the 
rights  of  those  nations,"  thus  implying  that  he  understood 
the  Bull  of  partition  to  apply  to  the  whole  of  the  regions 
across  the  ocean.  We  learn  from  another  despatch  that 
Cabot  had  been  previously  in  Lisbon  and  Seville  seeking 
aid  for  his  enterprise,  without  success.  He  must  have 
had  difficulty  also  in  Bristol,  for  he  could  only  fit  out  one 
small  vessel,  although  the  patent  permitted  him  to  take 
five.  He  was,  indeed,  as  both  the  Spanish  ambassadors 
wrote,  "  one  like  Columbus,"  poor,  visionary,  skilful,  dar- 
ing, persevering,  and  boastful.  Of  the  trials  and  dis- 
appointments he  experienced  we  know  nothing,  while  the 
rebuffs  of  Columbus  are  the  theme  of  many  volumes. 
Spain  gave  Columbus  and  his  posterity  honours  and  re- 
wards, but  Cabot  sank  into  an  unknown  and  unhonoured 
grave,  and  the  millions  upon  millions  of  English  for 
whom  he  pre-empted  the  continent  of  the  West  decreed  to 
his  memory,  after  four  hundred  years  of  neglect,  only  the 
small  memorial  tower  on  Brandon  Hill  at  Bristol. 
Honour  to  the  Bristol  people  who  assisted  him  in  1497, 


i8      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

and  honour  to  those  who  commemorated  him  in  1897,  but 
greater  honour  to  Spain,  that  even  in  her  day  of  humiha- 
tion  she  could  yet  care  for  the  remains  of  Columbus,  and 
that  his  descendants  are  still  grandees  of  her  sadly 
shrunken  empire. 

The  neglect  of  the  English  people  does  not  derogate 
from  the  merit  of  John  Cabot's  discovery.  It  is  a  fact  to 
be  remembered  that  Cabot  touched  the  continent  of  Amer- 
ica thirteen  months  before  Columbus  saw  the  mainland 
at  the  Boca  del  Sierpe,  on  the  coast  of  Venezuela.  Many 
of  the  details  are  known  to  us  now,  from  the  letters  of 
some  intelligent  foreigners  then  resident  in  England,  and 
other  important  documents  which  have,  in  recent  years, 
come  to  light.  A  spirited  controversy  preceded  the  cele- 
bration of  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discov- 
ery; and  in  its  course  these  new  facts  and  documents 
have  been  thoroughly  sifted  and  placed  beyond  all  danger 
of  ever  again  being  obscured. 

Early  in  the  month  of  May,  1497,  Cabot  sailed  from 
Bristol  on  his  lonely  voyage.  If  we  may  believe  Bar- 
rett's "  History  of  Bristol,"  his  ship  was  called  the  Mat- 
thezv.  Barrett  copied  from  older  records  not  now  in 
existence.  The  rest  of  his  statement  is  confirmed  by 
independent  evidence,  and  that  he,  or  anyone  else,  should 
falsify  a  record  to  insert  so  unessential  a  matter  as  the 
name  of  a  ship  does  not  appear  to  be  a  reasonable  suppo- 
sition. She  was  a  very  small  vessel,  and  carried  only 
eighteen  of  a  crew. 

The  objective  point  of  the  voyage  was  Cathay  (North- 
ern China),  of  which  province  Cambaluc  (Pekin)  was 
the  chief  city  and  the  residence  of  the  Grand  Khan.  The 
localities  will  be  found  on  Behaim's  globe,  the  particular 
descriptions  are  in  Marco  Polo's  travels.  That  was  the 
country  which  Cabot  reported  on  his  return  that  he  had 
found.  In  those  days,  when  longitude  could  only  be 
known  by  dead  reckoning,  it  was  the  custom  to  make  the 
latitude  sure  in  familiar  waters,  before  turning  to  the  wide 
ocean.  So  Columbus,  in  1492,  first  went  to  the  Canaries 
to  take  his  western  departure  for  Zipango.     Again,  on 


The  Cabot  Tower  at   Bristol 


I 


JOHN   CABOT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  19 

his  third  voyage,  when  he  set  out  to  discover  the  land  to 
the  south  he  had  heard  of  in  Hispaniola,  he  made  his 
southing  to  the  Cape  Verde  Islands  and  struck  directly 
west  from  there.  A  similar  reason  would  induce  Cabot 
to  turn  north  upon  the  outer  coast  of  Ireland,  until,  hav- 
ing got  the  supposed  latitude  of  his  objective  point,  he 
struck  for  it  across  the  ocean.  If  his  destination  had 
been  to  the  north,  the  familiar  course  to  Iceland,  inside 
the  channel  and  north  of  Ireland,  would  have  taken  him 
well  on  his  way.  How  far  up  the  west  coast  of  Ireland 
he  sailed  we  do  not  know.  It  may  have  been  to 
Blacksod  Bay  in  lat.  54°  N.,  as  assumed  by  a  very 
competent  authority.  It  could  not  have  been  farther 
north.  It  is  recorded  in  connection  with  Ruysch's  map, 
in  the  Ptolemy  of  1508,  that  the  ship  Ruysch  sailed  in 
turned  to  the  west  in  lat.  53°  N.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
as  to  Cabot's  course.  The  letters  make  that  abundantly 
clear. 

It  was  west.  But  what  is  west?  or  rather,  what  did 
the  sailors  of  that  day  mean  by  west?  It  was  then 
always  west  by  compass.  We  may  be  sure  of  that,  and 
also  that  their  compasses  were  the  same  as  ours.  When 
Columbus  sailed  west  from  the  Canaries  he  dropped  240 
miles  south  of  his  landfall  at  Guanahani,  and,  again,  in 
his  third  voyage,  when  he  sailed  west  from  the  Cape  Verde 
Islands  in  lat.  14°  53'  N.  he  struck  land  at  the  south  coast 
of  Trinidad  in  lat.  10°  N.,  having  dropped  293  miles  to 
the  south.  He  followed  his  compass,  though  he  was 
sailing  in  a  region  of  clear  skies,  where  the  stars  came  out 
brightly  every  night.  Cabot,  on  the  contrary,  was  sail- 
ing in  latitudes  of  adverse  winds  and  dense  and  pro- 
tracted fogs.  Of  necessity  he  followed  his  compass,  for 
how  otherwise  could  he  retrace  his  course  over  the  grey 
measureless  waste  of  ocean,  where  he  might  not  be  able 
for  days  to  get  an  observation  of  the  sun,  or  to  see  the 
stars  by  night?  It  was  not  a  new  thing  that  the  needle 
should  deviate  from  the  North  Star.  That  had  already 
been  observed,  and,  all  over  the  west  of  Europe,  the  de- 
viation was  recognized  as  about  one  point  east  of  north. 


20      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

What  was  new  was  western  variation — the  crossing  over 
of  the  needle  from  east  to  west.  That  indicated  to  those 
who  first  saw  it  that  they  had  entered  into  a  sphere  of 
unknown  conditions.  In  saihng  westward  from  Ireland, 
Cabot  very  soon  ran  into  a  region  where,  on  a  western 
course,  the  curves  of  magnetic  variation  are  very  rapidly 
traversed.  He  would,  of  necessity,  in  latitudes  so  far 
north,  experience  a  variation  dovible  that  recorded  by 
Columbus.  This  was  a  condition  of  which  he  could 
have  had  no  previous  knowledge.  Columbus  had  been 
the  first  to  notice  the  phenomenon  in  a  region  of  slight 
variation,  but  in  the  North  Atlantic  Cabot  would  have 
found  it  increase  steadily  throughout  the  whole  distance, 
until  he  reached  the  American  coast.  Here  then  is  an 
additional  and  very  strong  reason  why  he  had  to  follow 
his  compass.  On  our  charts,  made  to  the  true  meridian, 
Labrador  is  west  from  Ireland,  but  on  a  magnetic  merid- 
ian it  is  far  to  the  north  of  west.  The  question  of  mag- 
netic variation  was  soon  grappled  with  and  calculated 
upon  by  sailors,  and  we  are  able  to  form  an  approximate 
of  what  it  was  in  1492.  We  have,  even  in  Pedro  Reinel's 
map  of  1505,  positive  evidence  of  what  it  was  on  the 
northeast  coast  of  America  at  that  time,  for  on  his  map 
is  a  secondary  stafif  pointing  true  north,  and  marked 
with  truer  latitudes  than  those  on  the  line  which  marks 
the  magnetic  meridian.  It  was  somewhat  less  than  it  is 
now;  but  an  average  variation  of  12°  45'  would  have 
carried  Cabot  south  of  Cape  Race,  and  by  the  course 
steered  the  landfall  of  Cabot  is  indicated  as  not  only  south 
of  Labrador,  but  south  of  Newfoundland.  Those,  there- 
fore, who  decide  the  question  from  the  study  of  a  modern 
globe  or  a  Mercator  chart  must  be  misled ;  for  these  are 
drawn  to  the  true  meridian,  while  Cabot  was  always  sail- 
ing on  a  magnetic  course,  ever  swerving  to  the  south. 
Labrador  on  a  Mercator  chart  is  opposite  Ireland  on  a 
true  west  course.  For  that  very  reason,  if  for  no  other, 
Labrador  was  not  the  landfall.  If  Cabot  started  from 
53"  N.  his  landfall  was,  of  necessity,  far  to  the  south  of  it 
when  he  arrived  upon  the  coast  of  America,  where  the 


JOHN   CABOT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  21 

variation  was  over  two  points.  We  must  thoroughly 
recognise  these  facts  before  we  can  profitably  follow  the 
charts  and  courses  of  the  early  navigators.  They  are 
nowhere  more  clearly  explained  than  by  Champlain.  He 
says :  "  The  early  navigators,  who  sailed  to  parts  of 
New  France  (Canada)  in  the  west,  thought  they  would 
not  be  more  astray  in  going  thither,  than  when  going  to 
the  Azores,  or  other  places  near  France,  where  the  varia- 
tion is  almost  insensible  in  navigation,  and  where  the 
pilots  have  no  other  compasses  than  those  of  France  set 
to  northeast,  and  representing  the  true  meridian  there. 
And  so,  when  sailing  continually  toward  the  west  and 
wishing  to  keep  on  a  certain  latitude,  they  would  shape 
their  course  straight  towards  the  west  by  their  compass, 
thinking  they  were  sailing  on  the  parallel  they  wished  to 
go  upon.  But,  continuing  on  in  a  straight  line,  and  not 
in  a  circle,  like  all  parallel  lines  on  the  globe,  after  a  long 
distance,  when  in  sight  of  land  they  sometimes  found 
themselves  three,  four,  or  five  degrees  more  southerly 
than  necessary,  and  thus  they  were  deceived  in  their  lati- 
tude and  reckoning,  .  .  .  and  thus,  as  the  meridian 
changed,  the  points  of  the  compass  changed,  and  con- 
sequently the  course.  It  is  then  most  necessary  to  know 
the  meridian,  and  the  variation  of  the  magnetic  needle, 
and  it  is  of  service  for  all  pilots  sailing  round  the  world, 
and  especially  at  the  north  and  south,  where  the  greatest 
variations  of  the  magnetic  needle  occur,  and  also  where 
the  circles  of  longitude  are  smaller,  since  their  error 
would  be  the  greater  if  they  did  not  know  the  variation 
of  the  magnetic  needle." 

No  better  authority  than  Champlain  could  be  cited. 
He  was  a  master  sailor  in  theory  and  practice,  and  for 
thirty  years  sailed  backward  and  forward  between  the 
English  Channel  and  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  The 
whole  treatise  on  this  subject  will  be  found  translated 
from  Champlain's  Voyages  in  the  Transactions  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  Canada  for  1894  as  Appendix  A  to  a 
paper  on  the  Cabot  voyages. 

These  considerations  may  seem  tedious ;  but  they  are 


22      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

all  important  in  the  study  of  the  early  voyages.  They  are 
laws  written  in  the  book  of  Nature,  and  cannot  be  realised 
in  the  atmosphere  of  libraries.  One  look  into  the  bin- 
nacle of  a  west-bound  ship  and  one  glance  at  the  head- 
light and  at  the  North  Star  will  clear  away  the  miscon- 
ceptions which  have  obscured  the  subject,  and  have 
caused  no  little  waste  of  time  and  ink.  One  such  glance 
will  show  why  every  west-bound  course  must,  of  neces- 
sity, be  a  diagonal  to  the  south. 

We  have  it  on  record  that  the  voyage  was  not  a  smooth 
one.  Land  was  found  on  June  24,  and,  if  the  date  of 
sailing,  given  as  "  early  in  May,"  be  fixed  as  the  5th,  it 
would  have  lasted  fifty  days.  He  "  wandered  for  a  long 
time,  and  at  length  hit  upon  land."  There  was  not  likely 
to  be  much  straight  sailing  in  such  a  voyage,  and  Cabot 
must  have  fought  his  way  with  great  perseverance. 
With  fair  wind  and  weather  it  is  recorded,  in  A.  D.  1583, 
that  the  voyage  might  be  made  in  twenty-two  days  or 
even  less.  The  indications  of  the  letters  are  that  Cabot 
had  neither. 

The  contemporary  accounts  give  some  particulars  of 
the  place  where  John  Cabot  first  touched  land.  "  The 
land  is  excellent  and  the  climate  temperate,  suggesting 
that  brasil  and  silk  grow  there."  Brasil  is  a  tropical  dye- 
wood,  then  extensively  used,  and  imported  from  the  East. 
Silk  culture  was  an  industry  of  warm  climates.  "  The 
sea  is  full  of  fish,  which  are  not  only  taken  in  a  net,  but 
also  with  a  basket ;  a  stone  being  fastened  to  it  in  order 
to  keep  it  in  the  water."  This  is  a  point  strongly  made : 
"  they  took  so  many  fish  that  this  kingdom  will  no  longer 
have  need  of  Iceland ;  from  which  country  there  is  an 
immense  trade  in  the  fish  they  call  stock-fish."  This  in- 
formation is  recorded  as  taken  direct  from  the  lips  of 
John  Cabot  himself.  No  human  being  was  seen,  but 
Cabot  judged  there  were  inhabitants  "  from  certain 
snares  spread  to  take  game,  and  a  needle  for  making  nets, 
and  some  notched  trees  which  he  found."  Such  are  the 
special  marks  recorded  to  identify  the  spot  where  Cabot 
landed.     That  the  "  tides  are  slack  "  may  be  said  of  the 


JOHN  CABOT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  23 

whole  Atlantic  coast,  but  there  can  be  no  question  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  country  found,  for  the  same  writer  in 
another  letter  calls  them  "  fertile  islands." 

Cabot  did  not  remain  long.  Although  "  he  saw  no 
man,"  he  did  not  go  far  into  the  country.  His  crew  was 
small,  and  "  being  in  doubt  he  came  back  to  the  ship." 
Nor  did  he  see  anyone  on  the  coast  along  which  he  sailed 
in  returning,  "  but  he  did  not  wish  to  land  lest  he  should 
lose  time,  for  he  was  in  want  of  provisions." 

The  aim  of  the  expedition  had  been  achieved.  Land 
had  been  found  to  the  west.  They  were  sure  that  it  was 
"  the  mainland  of  the  country  of  the  Grand  Cam,"  just 
what  they  had  expected  to  find.  This  first  voyage  was  a 
simple  reconnoitring  expedition,  in  a  small  unarmed 
vessel,  with  a  crew  of  only  eighteen  men.  Cabot  took 
possession  of  the  country  by  hoisting  the  flag  of  Eng- 
land, as  he  was  empowered  to  do  by  the  letters  patent, 
and  then  returned.  Being  a  Venetian  he  hoisted  also  the 
flag  of  St.  Mark,  for  which  he  had  no  warrant.  He  was 
certainly  back  in  London  on  August  lo,  1497,  and  there 
is  highly  probable  ground  for  believing  that  August  6 
was  the  day  he  arrived  at  Bristol.  His  voyage  to  the 
landfall  had  occupied  from  fifty  to  fifty-three  days.  The 
return  voyage  was  made  in  forty-three  days,  but 
Raimondo  da  Soncino  reported  to  his  master,  the  Duke 
of  Milan,  "  now  that  they  know  where  to  go,  they  say  the 
voyage  thither  will  not  occupy  more  than  fifteen  days 
after  leaving  Ibernia  (Ireland)."  After  making  the 
landfall  he  coasted,  according  to  one  report,  along  the 
land  for  three  hundred  leagues.  This  is  one  of  the  dif- 
ficulties in  the  narrative,  for  there  was  not  time  for  so 
long  a  coasting  voyage,  and  it  conflicts  with  the  prompt 
return  enforced  by  the  scarcity  of  provisions.  It  is  clear 
that  he  coasted  along  the  south  of  Newfoundland  as  he 
returned.  That,  in  a  straight  line,  is  316  miles.  He 
followed  the  coast  which,  however,  could  hardly  have 
lengthened  his  course  to  so  great  a  degree. 

In  view  of  the  prevailing  influence  of  the  English 
language  on  the  North  American  continent  the  landfall 


24      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

of  Cabot  assumes  great  historic  interest,  for,  excepting 
the  Northmen  in  the  tenth  century,  the  handful  of  Eng- 
Hshmen  on  his  Httle  vessel  were  the  first  Europeans  to 
touch  the  mainland  of  the  Western  World.  After  long 
controversy  the  smoke  has  cleared  away,  and  an  intelli- 
gent opinion  upon  the  subject  may  be  readily  formed. 
Three  localities  only  call  for  serious  consideration. 
Taking  them  in  order  from  the  north  they  are,  first : 

Some  point  on  the  coast  of  Labrador  from  lat.  53°  to 
Cape  Chidley.  The  more  the  physical  characteristics  of 
this  coast  are  known  the  more  it  is  seen  to  be  absolutely 
irreconcilable  with  the  mild  climate  and  semi-tropical 
conditions  described  in  the  contemporary  records.  The 
following  passage  from  a  work  written  by  one  familiar 
with  the  coast  (published  in  A.  D.  1900)  will  show  the 
contrast : 

'*  The  climate  is  rigorous  in  the  extreme.  The  snow 
lies  from  September  to  June.  In  winter  the  whole  coast 
is  blocked  with  ice-fields,  drifting  from  Baffin's  Bay  and 
other  outlets  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  while  in  summer  the 
glittering  icebergs,  stranded  or  floating,  impart  a  stern 
beauty  to  its  storm-beaten  shore.  Perhaps  no  country  on 
the  face  of  the  globe  is  less  attractive  as  an  abode  of 
civilised  man.  Much  of  the  surface  of  the  country  is 
covered  with  low  mountains  and  barren  plateaus,  on 
which  are  vast  plains  of  moss  interspersed  with  rocks  and 
boulders.  At  the  heads  of  the  bays  and  fiords  only,  is 
there  a  large  growth  of  timber,  and  along  the  margin  of 
some  of  the  rivers,  patches  of  cultivable  land  are  to  be 
found.  The  Atlantic  coast  of  Labrador  is  a  grim  and 
terrible  wilderness,  but  having  many  scenes  of  awe- 
inspiring  beauty."  That  is  Labrador  in  A.  D.  1900. 
What  it  was  in  A.  D.  1534,  Jacques  Cartier  reported  on 
his  first  voyage,  as  recorded  in  Hakluyt's  quaint  version : 

"  If  the  soil  were  as  good  as  the  harboroughs  are,  it 
were  a  great  commoditee ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  called  the 
new  Land  l)ut  rather  stones  and  wilde  cragges,and  a  place 
fit  for  wilde  beasts,  for  in  all  the  North  Land  I  did  not  see 
a  cart-load  of  good  eartli ;  yet  went  I  on  shoare  in  many 


JOHN   CABOT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  25 

places,  and  in  the  Hand  of  White  Sand  there  is  nothing 
else  but  mosse  and  small  thornes  scattered  here  and  there 
withered  and  dry.  To  be  sure,  I  beleeve  that  this  was  the 
land  that  God  allotted  to  Caine."  This  was  said  of  the 
coast  of  Labrador,  inside  of  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle,  and 
from  lat.  51°  southwards.  The  contemporary  account  of 
John  Cabot  and  his  companions,  recorded  in  the  letter  of 
the  Milanese  envoy,  dated  December  18,  1497,  was: 
"  And  they  say  that  there  the  land  is  excellent  and  the 
climate  temperate,  suggesting  that  brasil  and  silk  grow 
there." 

The  theory  of  a  landfall  in  Labrador  is  still  copied  from 
book  to  book,  and  the  voyages,  which  can  no  longer  be 
disputed,  are  explained  so  as  to  thrust  the  English  on  a 
barren  and  inclement  coast  far  to  the  north.  When  Bid- 
die  revived  the  question  in  1833  the  documents  had  not 
come  to  light  which  reveal  the  true  landfall.  They  have 
been  found  since  in  the  archives  of  foreign  countries — 
the  iJa  Cosa  map  of  1500,  the  Cabot  map  of  1544,  the 
documents  at  Simancas  and  Venice.  These  are  decisive 
evidences  which  have  rewarded  the  research  of  scholars 
since  Biddle's  time.  Then  the  coast  of  Labrador  was  un- 
frequented, and  its  interior  was  a  blank  on  the  maps  and 
one  might  safely  affirm  almost  anything  concerning  it; 
but  in  the  present  state  of  geographical  knowledge  that  is 
no  longer  possible.  The  British  Admiralty  Pilot,  refer- 
ring to  the  coast  southward  from  Cape  St.  Lewis,  in  52" 
30',  to  a  point  within  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle,  describes 
it,  as  Jacques  Cartier  did,  consisting  of  bare  granite  hills, 
rising  abruptly  about  700  feet  from  the  sea  level.  The 
water  is  said  to  be  deep  and  navigation  not  intricate,  "  but 
the  frequent  fogs,  the  heavy  easterly  swell  rolled  in  from 
the  Atlantic,  and  the  icebergs,  which  are  almost  always 
drifting  along  with  the  current  from  the  northward,  all 
contribute  in  making  the  condition  of  the  coast  hazardous 
to  vessels."  Belle-Isle  is  in  52°,  so  to  strike  Labrador  the 
landfall  is,  of  necessity,  placed  north  of  53°.  In  Dr. 
Grenfell's  "  Vikings  of  To-day  "  is  a  characteristic  picture 
of  the   coast  between  53°    and   54°.     On  July   13   he 


26      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

crossed  from  Belle-Isle  to  the  mainland,  and  he  says :  "  By 
mid-day  we  ventured  to  make  a  start  and  headed  direct 
for  Cape  Charles,  close  inside  the  island  of  Belle-Isle. 
As  we  brouj^ht  the  hills  and  steep  cliffs  of  Labrador  into 
view  we  found  there  was  still  much  snow  in  the  gulfs  and 
crevices ;  while  it  was  necessary  carefully  to  thread  our 
way  among  the  numbers  of  icebergs,  which,  up  to  this 
very  week,  had  been  blocking  the  straits." 

Again  the  landfall  described  by  Cabot  was  remarkable 
for  its  abundance  of  fish.  The  date  was  June  24,  old 
style,  which,  in  that  century,  would  be  equivalent  to  July 
3  of  the  present  calendar ;  but  it  was  proved  before  the 
Commission  of  the  Fishery  clauses  of  the  Treaty  of  Wash- 
ington, in  1877,  that  the  fish  do  not  set  in  upon  the  coast 
at  lat.  53°  24'  until  July  12,  and,  farther  north,  until  Au- 
gust. The  cause  which  determines  the  movement  of  the 
fish  is  the  ice  thrown  upon  the  coast  by  the  Arctic  cur- 
rent ;  but  Cabot  makes  no  mention  of  ice  or  of  icebergs 
upon  this  voyage,  although  they  are  a  striking  feature  of 
his  second  voyage.  John  Cabot  could  not  possibly  have 
been  upon  the  coast  of  Labrador  without  meeting  many 
icebergs,  for  we  read  in  the  Admiralty  Sailing  Directions, 
"  Icebergs  may  be  encountered  all  the  year  round,  but  are 
most  numerous  from  June  till  August."  June  24,  old 
style,  is  just  the  time  of  year  when  the  imposing  proces- 
sion of  icebergs,  passing  southwards,  is  densest,  and  when 
stranded  bergs  most  frequently  obstruct  the  harbours  all 
along  the  Labrador  coast,  from  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle 
northward. 

Passing  southward,  the  second  locality,  cited  as  the 
landfall  of  the  first  English  voyage  across  the  western 
ocean,  is  Cape  Bonavista,  on  the  east  coast  of  Newfound- 
land. This  idea  has  nothing  to  suggest  it  but  the  similar- 
ity of  sound  to  the  words  prima  vista.  It  has  not  the 
transcendent  impossibility  of  Labrador;  but  it  is  ex- 
cluded by  the  documents.  It  is  fatal  to  the  theory  that 
neither  it,  nor  any  other  name,  is  found  on  the  east  coast 
of  Newfoundland  on  La  Cosa's  map.  It  is  evident  from 
that  map  that,  when  Cabot  arrived  at  Cape  Race,  the  Cape 


JOHN   CABOT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  27 

of  England  (Cavo  de  Inglaterra),  he  struck  home  for 
England  without  turning  up  along  the  east  coast. 

Moreover,  the  name  is  not  found  among  the  names 
upon  the  east  coast,  shown  in  the  earlier  maps  after 
La  Cosa's.  In  Visconte  de.Maiollo's  map  of  A.  D.  1527, 
the  name  ben  posta  occurs,  but  it  is  not  until  A.  D,  1534 
upon  Viegas'  map  (Portuguese)  that  the  name  is  found, 
and  it  is  there  spelled  Boavista,  though  pronounced  Bona- 
vista,  after  the  rules  of  the  Portuguese  language.  As  will 
appear  in  a  succeeding  chapter,  the  east  coast  of  New- 
foundland was  discovered  and  named  by  the  Portuguese. 
The  first  mention  of  a  landfall  at  Bonavista  is  as  late  as 
A.  D.  1625,  on  a  printed  English  map,  known  as  Mason's, 
and  on  a  French  manuscript  map,  of  the  same  year,  by 
Dupont  of  Dieppe.  Much  importance  is  attached  to  what 
is  called  an  "  immemorial  tradition  "  on  the  coast ;  but  as 
there  were  no  settlers  there  for  a  hundred  years,  there 
was  no  material  to  create  and  continue  a  tradition.  The 
name  Bonavista  ("  happy  sight,"  as  it  is  translated),  may 
have  suggested  the  tradition,  but  the  name  was 
doubtless  given  from  some  fancied  resemblance  to  a 
familiar  home  island  in  the  Cape  Verde  group. 

The  third,  and  most  southern,  point  claimed  as  Cabot's 
landfall  is  Cape  Breton.  To  this  locality  both  circum- 
stantial evidence  and  positive  testimony  plainly  point. 
The  country  around  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  regions 
in  North  America.  Its  summer  climate  corresponds  to 
John  Cabot's  description.  "  The  summers  of  Cape  Bre- 
tion,"  writes  an  Englishman  who  resided  there  for  many 
years,  "  challenge  comparison  with  those  of  any  country 
within  the  temperate  regions  of  the  world.  During  all 
that  time  there  are,  perhaps,  not  more  than  ten  foggy  days 
in  any  part  of  the  island,  except  along  the  southern  coast, 
between  the  Gut  of  Canso  and  Scatari.  Bright, 
sunny  days,  with  balmy  westerly  winds,  follow  each  other 
in  succession  week  after  week,  while  the  mid-day  heats 
are  often  tempered  by  cool,  refreshing  sea-breezes."  The 
eastern  coast  of  the  island  was  renowned  for  its  abundant 
fisheries,   and   became   the   resort   of   English,    French, 


28      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Spanish  and  Portuguese  fishermen  from  the  earUest  times 
of  discovery.  From  the  year  1504  it  was  the  favourite 
fishing  ground  of  the  Bretons ;  and  Cape  Breton  is  one  of 
the  earUest  names  on  the  maps ;  while  the  adjacent  sea, 
bounded  by  the  coasts  of  Newfoundland  and  Nova 
Scotia,  was  called  the  Bay  of  the  Bretons.  The  eastern- 
most point  of  the  island — the  very  cape  itself — is  wave- 
washed  and  rocky ;  for  a  narrow  barrier  of  primordial 
rock  protects  the  carboniferous  basin  from  the  wash  of 
the  open  Atlantic.  It  is,  as  appears  on  La  Cosa's  map, 
on  the  line  of  magnetic  west  from  Cabot's  point  of  de- 
parture and  thus,  in  every  way,  fulfils  the  conditions 
described.  It  is  also  the  only  point  of  the  island  which 
the  geography  of  the  coast  permits  to  be  a  primary  land- 
fall ;  moreover,  it  is  the  first  place  ever  named  as  the 
landfall;  for  it  is  called  Prima  tierra  vista  (first  land 
seen),  on  the  map  of  1544,  compiled  with  data  received 
from  Sebastian  Cabot.  All  other  landfalls  were  devised 
subsequently  to  this  first  mention, — they  are  hypotheses 
of  later  times. 

There  is,  in  fact,  positive  evidence  for  Cape  Breton,  and 
for  no  other  spot  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  Pedro  de  Ayala, 
Spanish  ambassador  at  London,  wrote  to  the  sovereigns 
of  Spain,  on  July  25,  1498  (before  Cabot  had  returned 
from  his  second  voyage),  that  he  had  obtained  from  him  a 
chart  and  would  send  it  to  them.  In  the  year  1500  the 
king  of  Spain  employed  Juan  de  La  Cosa,  a  celebrated 
pilot,  who  had  been  a  companion  of  Columbus,  to  make 
for  him  a  map  of  the  world,  and  this  very  map,  after  many 
vicissitudes,  was,  in  1853,  restored  to  the  archives  of 
Spain.  It  is  worthy  of  the  closest  attention,  not  only 
from  the  celebrity  of  its  compiler,  but  because  it  is  the 
earliest  map  extant  showing  any  part  of  the  New  World- 
It  was  completed  in  October,  1500,  six  years  before  the 
death  of  Columbus.  From  the  first  it  was  an  authorita- 
tive public  map,  and  now  it  is  the  venerated  treasure  of 
the  Naval  Museum  at  Madrid.  A  tracing  of  the  North 
American  portion  of  the  map  is  given  at  page  30.  It 
is  drawn  to  compass  bearings,  and  the  trend  of  the  coast 


Fii;.  I.     Ruysch's  Map,  1508 


Fiij.  2.     King  Map,   15c 


Fiij.  3.     Cape  Race,  A.D.  1900 

The   Kev  Point  of  North  American  (ieograpliy 


JOHN   CABOT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  29 

upon  the  true  meridian  inclines  towards  the  south  by  the 
whole  extent  of  the  variation  of  the  needle.  No  mistake 
is  possible  about  the  date,  for  it  is  on  the  map  itself,  and 
is  A.  D.  1500.  No  Englishmen  had  been  upon  the  coast 
but  the  Cabots.  Therefore,  when  we  find  upon  it  "  Mar 
descubierto  por  les  Yngleses  "  (Sea  discovered  by  the 
English),  we  may  be  sure  that  in  compiling  the  map  for 
the  king  of  Spain,  La  Cosa  availed  himself  of  John 
Cabot's  map,  sent  to  the  same  king  by  Pedro  de  Ayala,  his 
ambassador  in  England.  The  English  discoveries  are 
marked  by  English  flags  for  a  certain  distance  along  the 
northeast  coast  of  the  continent,  and  the  Spanish  dis- 
coveries are  marked  by  Spanish  flags  upon  the  West 
India  islands  to  the  south.  The  only  names  on  the 
northern  continental  coast  are  the  names  on  the  "  sea 
discovered  by  the  English  " — necessarily  Cabot's  names. 

The  salient  point  on  the  map  is  that  remarkable  head- 
land. Cape  Race,  which,  since  the  discovery  of  the  conti- 
nent, has  been  the  great  landmark  of  all  mariners  sailing 
on  the  Western  Ocean.  It  stands  on  La  Cosa's  map 
looking  across  the  unbroken  ocean  waste,  in  A.  D.  1500, 
as  it  does  still  on  a  Mercator  chart,  facing  the  projecting 
coast  of  South  America,  then  just  discovered.  It  is 
called  Cavo  de  Ynglatcrra  (Cape  of  England)  ;  for  it 
is  the  last  point  of  the  New  World  looking  towards  Eng- 
land. On  Ruysch's  map  it  is  called  C.  de  Portogesi,  see 
Fig.  I  (Portuguese  Cape)  ;  but  on  the  King  map,  A.  D. 
1502,  it  is  called  Capo  Raso,  see  Fig.  2,  and,  ever  since, 
as  Cape  Raso,  Rasso,  Razo  or  Race,  the  name  has  ex- 
pressed the  physical  character  of  the  locality.  The  figure 
3,  page  28,  is  a  reproduction  of  a  photograph  in  the 
Canadian  Marine  Department,  taken  at  some  happily 
quiet  moment.  The  English  form  "  Race  "  obscures  the 
meaning.  It  is  the  "  flat  cape  " — worn  smooth  in  its 
aeonian  resistance  to  the  Atlantic  surf.  It  is  the  first 
permanent  name  on  the  continental  coast  of  North 
America. 

We  need  not  discuss  the  longitudes  of  any  of  these 
early  maps,  for  longitudes  could  not  be  correctly  ascer- 


30      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

tained  in  those  days.  It  is  evident,  from  the  position  oi 
the  Azores,  that  the  longitude  of  this  map  is  25°  out.  It 
has  already  been  observed  that,  up  to  A.  D.  1520,  the 
latitudes  of  the  Antilles  are  almost  8°  too  far  north,  and 
this  plainly  appears  in  La  Cosa's  map,  for  Cuba  and  His- 
paniola  are  entirely  north  of  the  tropic  instead  of  being 
entirely  south  of  it.  The  map  is  not  graduated,  but  the 
distance  between  the  equator  and  the  tropic  gives  a  meas- 
ure by  which  we  may  see  that  the  latitude  of  Cape  Race 
is  too  high  to  the  same  extent  that  the  latitude  of  Cuba 
is  too  high,  and  it  is  also  pertinent  to  observe  that 
Cape  Race  is  at  the  same  distance  from  the  equator  as 
Bristol. 

On  the  east  side  of  Newfoundland,  north  of  Cape  Race, 
there  are  no  names,  the  coast  line  is  hypothetical,  but 
from  Cape  Race  westward  the  coast  is  named,  and  the 
last  name  to  the  west,  Caz'o  dcscuhierto,  reveals  the  secret 
of  the  first  landfall  on  the  continent  of  America.  As 
plainly  as  words  can  express  it  that  point  is  Discovery 
Cape.  It  corresponds  with  the  Prima  tierra  vista  of  the 
Sebastian  Cabot  map  of  1544  and  is  the  east  point  of 
Cape  Breton. 

The  moment  this  is  apprehended,  everything  becomes 
clear.  All  the  evidence  falls  into  line.  Ayala,  with  John 
Cabot's  chart  before  his  eyes,  wrote  (July  25,  1498)  to 
King  Ferdinand  that  the  land  found  was  "  at  the  end  of 
that  which  belongs  to  your  Highness  by  the  convention 
with  Portugal  "  {i.  e.,  the  Treaty  of  Tordesillas),  and  we 
know  the  line  of  demarcation  was  held  to  cut  the  Nova 
Scotia  coast  at  the  equivalent  of  our  meridian  of  60°,  and 
close  to  Cape  Breton.  Those  who  frequent  the  coast 
know  that  in  June,  July,  and  August  Cape  Race  is  seldom 
seen.  The  southeast  corner  of  Newfoundland  is  wrapped 
in  fog  for  twenty-four  days  out  of  thirty.  Appendix  C 
of  a  paper  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Canada  for  1897  is  a  table  compiled  from  the  records 
of  the  lighthouse  keeper  at  Cape  Race  for  the  month  of 
June  in  four  successive  years  1894-1897,  establishing  that 
fact,  if  indeed,  so  patent  a  fact  in  physical  geography 


'\ 


His 


O. 
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o 

CI. 


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?  O 


JOHN   CABOT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  31 

needed  establishing.  Passing  Cape  Race  in  foggy 
weather  Cabot  continued  on  his  western  course  and 
could  not  fail  therefore  to  arrive  at  Cape  Breton.  There, 
as  we  know  from  the  contemporary  letters,  he  did  not 
stay,  but,  being  short  of  provisions,  he  returned  at  once. 
In  returning  he  coasted  and  named  the  south  coast  of 
Newfoundland,  and  took  his  departure  for  England  from 
the  Cape  of  England  (Cape  Race).  The  reason  the 
return  voyage  took  43  days  is  thus  apparent. 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  John  Cabot  to  the  discoveries 
of  the  English,  embodied  in  a  contemporaneous  map  made 
for  the  King  of  Spain  by  the  master  and  owner  of  the 
flagship  of  Columbus  on  his  first  voyage  in  1492  and  the 
pilot  of  his  fleet.  The  testimony  of  Cabot's  son,  Sebas- 
tian, is  contained  in  a  world-map,  dated  1544,  of  which 
the  copy  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris  is  the  only  one 
known  to  exist.  It  is  a  printed  map  and  was  found  as 
recently  as  A.  D.  1843.  The  information  given  upon  it 
is  partly  by  numbered  legends  on  the  map  itself,  and 
partly  by  legends,  in  Spanish  and  Latin  versions,  printed 
separately  and  attached  to  it — forming  one  document 
with  it.  The  map  has  been  the  occasion  of  much  contro- 
versy. The  American  portion  of  it  is  given  in  Chap.  XIV, 
and  its  chronological  place,  A.  D.  1544,  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  because  it  has  sometimes  been  taken  to  be  a  map  of 
Sebastian  Cabot's  own  discoveries.  After  a  long  con- 
troversy it  is  now  admitted  that,  while  Sebastian  Cabot 
may  not  have  drawn  the  map,  he  at  least  contributed 
to  the  materials  upon  which  it  was  constructed,  and  that, 
among  other  things,  the  information  concerning  north- 
east America  was  contributed  by  him. 

Figure  4  is  a  tracing  from  a  photographic  enlarge- 
ment of  the  original  map,  and  on  it  the  words  Prima 
tierra  vista  indicate  that  the  landfall — the  Cavo  descu- 
hierto — was  on  the  east  point  of  Cape  Breton  Island.  Of 
the  two  points  shown  the  words  refer  to  the  easternmost, 
and  indeed  Cape  North  could  not  have  been  discovered 
first,  for  the  land  around  is  too  high  to  be  passed  unob- 
served,  and   the   course   would   require  to   be   abruptly 


32      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

changed  to  reach  it.  Legend  No.  8,  upon  the  map  of 
1544,  refers  to  the  first  voyage  and  states  that  the  land 
was  first  found  on  June  24,  1494,  now  recognised  as  a 
misprint  for  1497.  An  island  was  discovered  the  same 
day  lying  opposite  and  close  to  the  landfall,  which  they 
called  St.  John,  because  it  was  St.  John  the  Baptist's  day. 
Then  follows  in  the  Latin  text  a  full  point,  and  the  next 
word,  Hnjiis,  begins  with  a  capital  letter.    The  rest  of  the 


Fig.  4.  Extract     from  the   Sebastian   Cabot  Map  of  A.  D.   1544, 
showing  the  point  of  Cape  Breton  as  the  Landfall 


legend  refers  to  the  whole  region  of  the  north,  and  various 
particulars  are  given  of  the  country,  the  people,  the  bears 
and  other  animals,  the  birds,  and  the  fish.  Much  confu- 
sion has  arisen  from  reading  this  legend,  as  if  it  formed 


JOHN   CABOT'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  33 

part  of  a  special  description  of  the  island,  instead  of  a 
general  description  of  an  extensive  region,  characterized 
by  the  two  bears  drawn  upon  the  map,  which  the  discov- 
eries of  forty  succeeding  years,  and  especially  those  of 
Cartier,  had  made  known.  The  Magdalen  group  of 
islands  discovered  by  Cartier  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence 
are  marked,  by  error,  "  island  of  St.  John,"  although  they 
do  not  lie  near,  or  opposite,  the  landfall  and  could  not  be 
discovered  on  the  same  day. 

The  scope  of  this  volume  will  not  admit  of  further  dis- 
cussion. Those  who  care  to  follow  the  question  further 
may  do  so  in  the  books  and  papers  mentioned  at  the  end 
of  this  volume.  The  Island  of  Cape  Breton  must  be 
carefully  distinguished  from  the  cape  itself,  from  which  it 
was  named.  The  region  was  not  known  as  an  island, 
and  is  shown  on  the  map  for  a  hundred  years  as  a  part  of 
the  peninsula  of  Nova  Scotia.  The  Gut  of  Canso,  divid- 
ing it  from  the  mainland,  is  only  4518  feet  across  at  its 
narrowest  part — not  so  wide  as  the  East  River  at  New 
York,  for  the  Brooklyn  bridge  is  5989  feet;  nor  so  wide 
as  the  St.  Lawrence,  for  the  Victoria  bridge  at  Montreal 
is  9184  feet  long. 

Let  it  not  be  thought  that  this  event  is  unworthy  of  the*"^ 
time  devoted  to  its  elucidation.  That  the  English  were 
the  first  to  tread  the  soil  of  the  continent  of  the  New 
World  is  a  fact  of  supreme  historic  importance.  For 
almost  a  century  they  neglected,  and  undervalued  their 
new  acquisition.  Silent  as  to  the  momentous  achieve- 
ment of  Cabot,  their  annals  were  crowded  with  the 
ephemeral  doings  of  men  whose  names  and  deeds  might 
well  have  passed  into  oblivion.  Nevertheless,  when  they 
came  to  the  New  World,  they  did  not  come  as  interlopers. 
They  did  not  come  with  a  title  only  to  rocky  and  unin- 
habitable wastes  of  ice  and  storm.  They  came  as  of  right 
to  the  regions  best  adapted  to  develop  a  strong  industrial 
civilisation.  Not  to  the  relaxing  climate  of  dreamy 
islands  in  southern  seas,  but  to  those  temperate  latitudes 
where  the  European  races  attain  their  highest  level. 
When  the  forest  wilderness  of  Cape  Breton  listened  to  the 


34      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

voices  of  Cabot's  little  company,  it  was  the  first  faint 
whisper  of  the  mighty  flood  of  English  speech  which  was 
destined  to  overflow  the  continent,  to  the  shores  of  an- 
other ocean,  far-distant  and  undreamed  of  for  many 
years. 


CHAPTER  III 

CABOt's  second  voyage — DISAPPOINTMENT 

KING  HENRY  VII.,  although  cautious  and  not 
subject  to  enthusiasms  of  any  kind,  was  elated 
at  the  success  of  the  first  voyage;  for  a  great 
success  it  appeared  to  be.  On  August  lo  he 
granted  from  the  Privy  Purse  a  reward  of  ten  pounds 
"  to  hym  that  founde  the  new  isle."  Not  a  large  sum, 
for  King  Henry  VII.  was  "  not  prodigal  " ;  but  it  repre- 
sented many  times  that  amount  in  these  days.  On 
December  13,  1497,  he  granted  to  John  Cabot  a  pension 
of  twenty  pounds  a  year,  charged  upon  the  customs 
revenue  of  the  port  of  Bristol.  Pending  preparations 
prospects  were  in  truth  most  promising,  for  "  the  country 
of  the  Grand  Cam  "  had  been  reached,  and  what 
that  signified  Marco  Polo  had  taught  to  Europe.  The 
expedition  had  reached  Cathay,  of  which  empire  the 
capital  was  Cambaluc  (Pekin),  the  winter  residence  of  the 
Grand  Khan,  a  city  "  twenty-four  miles  square  and  admir- 
ably built " ;  the  emporium  of  an  amount  and  variety  of 
merchandise  so  vast  that  Marco  Polo  found  it  beyond  his 
powers  of  description.  There,  he  wrote,  were  "  to  be 
seen,  in  wonderful  abundance,  the  precious  stones,  the 
pearls,  the  silks  and  the  diverse  perfumes  of  the  east. 
Scarce,  a  day  passes  that  there  does  not  arrive  nearly  a 
thousand  waggons  laden  with  silk,  of  which  they  make 
admirable  stufifs  in  the  city."  There  was  no  shadow  of 
doubt  but  that  Asia  had  been  reached.  La  Cosa  filled 
up  on  his  map  the  unexplored  gap  between  the  discov- 
eries of  Cabot  and  Columbus  with  conjectural  outlines 
from  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia.     The  Cantino  map  (A.  D. 

35 


36      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

1502)  inscribed  upon  Greenland  the  legend  ponfa  d'Asia 
and  added  "  it  is  believed  that  this  is  the  extremity  of 
Asia."  Ruysch's  map  (A.  D.  1508)  showed  the  sup- 
posed connection — Terra  Nova,  an  extension  of  North- 
ern Asia,  Cathay,  Tebet,  Bangala,  and  Quinsay  forming 
one  continent  with  it,  and  the  great  river  Polisacus 
(Hoang  Ho)  falling  into  the  Sinus  Plisacus  of  the^great 
ocean ;  in  which,  far  to  the  south,  were  the  Antilles  and 
South  America  shown  as  islands.  Other  maps  might  be 
cited,  but  these  are  sufficient  to  show  the  current  belief. 
What  a  prospect  for  trade  was  opened  up  by  this  Italian 
adventurer!  His  previous  attempts  in  Seville  and  Lis- 
bon to  obtain  aid  for  an  expedition,  in  more  northern  lat- 
itudes than  Columbus  had  sailed  in,  had  failed,  and  it  had 
taken  him  twelve  months  to  equip  one  little  vessel,  and  get 
together  a  crew  of  eighteen  men  to  make  this  attempt. 
"  A  foreigner  and  poor,  he  would  not  have  been  believed 
if  his  crew,  who  were  nearly  all  English  of  Bristol,  had 
not  testified  that  what  he  said  was  true."  We  read  also 
that  Cabot  was  "  of  gentle  disposition  "  and  he  must  have 
been  a  man  of  great  patience  and  resolution ;  "  another," 
we  are  informed,  "  like  Columbus  " ;  and,  though  natural- 
ised in  Venice,  he  was  in  another  respect  like  Columbus, 
for  he  was  born  in  Genoa.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
although  he  had  resided  fifteen  years  in  Venice  to  qualify 
him  for  naturalisation,  Cabot  was  evidently  unknown  to 
the  Venetian  representative  in  London,  or  to  his  two 
brothers  in  Venice,  Alvise  and  Francesco  Pasqualigo, 
with  whom  he  corresponded. 

Then  came  the  short  hour  of  John  Cabot's  triumph 
and,  for  a  time,  he  was  lionised  in  London.  The  King, 
miserly  though  he  was,  "  granted  him  money  to  amuse 
himself  with."  He  was  "  called  the  Great  Admiral  "  and 
"  great  honour  was  paid  him."  He  "  went  about  dressed 
in  silk  "  and  made  promises  of  lands  in  his  new  domains. 
To  a  Burgundian  who  was  with  him  he  promised  an 
island. and  he  promised  another  to  a  Genoese  friend.  Two 
poor  friars,  who  were  to  go  on  the  next  voyage,  were  to 
have   bishoprics.     The    Bristol   merchants   took   up   the 


CABOT'S  SECOND  VOYAGE       ^1 

enterprise  warmly,  and  Cabot  went  back  to  Bristol  to  his 
wife  and  family;  for  there  the  next  expedition  also  was 
to  be  fitted  out.  Additional  letters  patent  were  issued  by 
the  King,  not  cancelling  or  traversing  the  former  let- 
ters, but  giving  to  John  Cabot  the  additional  and  excep- 
tional power  to  take  any  six  ships  suitable  for  the  pro- 
posed expedition,  in  any  port  of  the  kingdom,  together 
with  such  accessories  as  were  necessary,  paying  for  them 
such  a  price  as  the  King  would  pay,  if  they  were  taken  for 
the  royal  service.  In  these  letters  Cabot's  sons  were  not 
mentioned. 

During  the  winter  of  1497-98  preparations  went  on  and 
others  joined  in  the  enterprise.  The  King  assisted  by 
advancing  loans  to  those  who  fitted  out  ships.  The  fol- 
lowing sums  are  on  record :  "  To  Lanslot  Thirkill  of 
London,  twenty  pounds ;  to  Thomas  Thirkill,  thirty 
pounds ;  to  Thomas  Bradley,  thirty  pounds ;  and  forty 
pounds  five  shillings  to  John  Carter "  for  the  same 
object.  There  is  no  record  of  the  day  of  sailing  of 
the  expedition,  but  it  was  early  in  May.  The  observant 
letter-writers  whose  reports  we  have  been  quoting  now 
desert  us,  and  few  details  can  be  gleaned  elsewhere.  Dr. 
de  Puebla,  the  senior  Spanish  Ambassador,  wrote  to  the 
Spanish  monarchs,  at  the  end  of  July,  that  the  expedi- 
tion had  sailed  and  that  the  King  had  sent  five  armed 
ships.  From  a  chronicle  quoted  by  Hakluyt  we  gather 
that  divers  merchants  of  London  ventured  small  stocks 
of  goods,  and  that  there  were  three  or  four  small 
ships  that  went  in  company  laden  with  merchandise 
"  such  as  coarse  cloth,  caps,  laces,  points,  and  other 
trifles."  This  is  a  practical  commentary  on  the  report 
given  by  Cabot  and  his  sailors  concerning  the  character 
of  the  land  found.  It  is  incredible  that  such  consign- 
ments should  be  made  to  countries  like  Labrador  or 
Greenland.  The  English  merchants  risked  their  money 
upon  the  productiveness  of  the  "  new  found  land."  De 
'Ayala,  the  second  Spanish  Ambassador,  writing  at  the 
same  time,  adds  that  the  fleet  was  provisioned  for  one 
year,  and  that,  at  the  date  of  the  letter  (July  25)  one  of 


38      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

the  ships,  on  board  of  which  was  a  certain  friar  Bull,  had 
been  driven  back  to  Ireland  in  distress.  The  chronicle, 
cited  in  Hakluyt,  adds  that  the  fleet  "  so  departed  from 
Bristowe  (Bristol)  in  the  beginning  of  May;  of  whom 
in  this  Mayor's  time  (October  28,  1498)  returned  no 
tidings  " ;  and  of  that  expedition,  so  full  of  hope  and 
promise,  no  tidings  are  to  be  found  in  the  annals  of  Eng- 
land to  this  day.  John  Cabot  disappears,  and  his  memory 
was  nearly  lost  forever.  His  sons  Lewis  and  Sancius  are 
heard  of  no  more,  and  although  Sir  George  Peckham,  in 
Hakluyt's  Voyages,  says  that  "  a  fair  haven  in  New- 
foundland is  to  this  day  (A.  D.  1583)  known  and  called 
Sancius'  haven,"  no  such  haven  can  be  found  on  any  map, 
or  exists  now  upon  the  island.  Placentia,  which  some 
have  supposed  to  be  the  haven  intended,  is  named  for  a 
Basque  town  in  the  district  of  Vizcaya.  His  son  Sebas- 
tian, however,  became  an  important  person  in  the  history 
of  maritime  discovery.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  an  expedi- 
tion with  such  aims  and  based  upon  such  expectations 
must  have  failed,  and  that  all  concerned  in  it  must  have 
been  miserably  disappointed ;  but  the  details  of  disaster 
will  never  be  known. 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  younger  Cabot  was  among 
the  eighteen  men  on  the  first  voyage  with  his  father,  but 
he  did  take  part  in  the  second  voyage.  We  have  not  only 
his  own  statement,  but  every  indication  points  to  his  hav- 
ing seen  the  new  lands  with  his  own  eyes.  He  described 
to  Peter  Martyr  the  icebergs  of  the  north  (seen,  not  on  an 
expedition  with  eighteen  men,  but  on  an  expedition  with 
three  hundred  men)  and  the  bears  which  swam  and 
caught  fish  in  the  sea.  These  are  strange  experiences, 
not  likely  to  be  invented  or  even  repeated  at  second  hand. 
Moreover  King  Ferdinand,  himself,  wrote  to  Sebastian 
Cabot  (September  13,  1512)  and  the  "navigation  to  the 
Bacallaos  "  is  mentioned  in  the  letter,  in  a  way  to  prove 
that  it  was  the  cause  of  the  invitation  to  enter  the  service 
of  Spain.  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  was  not  a  prince  easily 
deceived,  or  one  to  be  deceived  with  impunity.  That 
Sebastian  said  he  had  been  there  is  not,  on  any  theory 


CABOT'S  SECOND  VOYAGE       39 

concerning  his  veracity,  to  be  taken  as  proof  that  he  had 
not  been  there.  It  would  indeed  be  strange  if  a  young 
man  of  capacity  and  intelligence,  as  he  most  certainly 
was,  did  not  take  part  in  an  expedition  of  such  magnitude, 
sailing  with  such  eclat  under  Royal  auspices,  and  with  his 
father  in  command. 

Nothing  is  on  record  concerning  him  for  fourteen  years 
after  until,  in  May,  15 12,  in  the  following  reign,  his  name 
appears  in  the  public  accounts  as  receiving  twenty  shil- 
lings for  making  a  map  of  Gascony  and  Guyenne  to  be 
used  in  a  campaign  in  the  south  of  France  concerted 
between  Henry  VIII.  and  Ferdinand  of  Aragon.  Later 
in  the  same  year  he  entered  the  service  of  the  Spanish 
King  and  removed  to  Seville  with  his  wife  and  family, 
where  he  was  appointed  to  the  rank  of  captain,  and  was 
subsequently  advanced  to  be  pilot  major  with  very  im- 
portant functions  in  the  naval  service  of  Spain.  What 
knowledge  we  possess  of  the  results  of  the  second  voyage 
is  mainly  derived  from  the  statements  of  Sebastian  Cabot 
as  recorded  in  the  works  of  Spanish  and  Italian  authors, 
especially  from  Peter  Martyr,  Ramusio,  and  Gomara. 
Sidelights  and  confirmations  may  be  gathered  from  many 
other  sources,  but  it  is  remarkable  that  all  our  informa- 
tion concerning  the  second  voyage  upon  which  English 
diplomacy  chiefly  relied  in  making  claims  in  the  New 
World  should  be  drawn,  not  from  the  records  of  Eng- 
land, but  from  foreign  sources.  The  historic  value  of 
these  accounts  and  the  character  of  Sebastian  Cabot  have 
been  of  late  discussed  so  thoroughly  that  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  enter  into  further  details. 

Peter  Martyr  (in  the  sixth  book  of  his  third  Decade), 
gives  an  account  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  expedition  from 
information  received  from  his  own  lips ;  but  it  has  been 
overlooked  that  the  account  is  only  incidental  to  another 
inquiry.  The  passage  has  been  too  frequently  read 
only  in  extract  and,  to  apprehend  its  true  bearing,  it 
must  be  read  with  the  context.  Martyr  is  really  discuss- 
ing the  equatorial  current.  He  observes  that  the  sea 
flows  from  east  to  west,  and,  not  knowing  of  the  Gulf 


40      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Stream,  he  is  speculating  as  to  what  becomes  of  the  over- 
flow. He  discusses  various  theories,  and  at  last  reaches 
that  which  supposes  the  overflow  to  return  to  the  north. 
He  is  not  satisfied  with  that  either,  for  he  says  those  who 
have  sailed  on  the  northern  seas  affirm  that  the  sea  flows 
to  the  west  there  also,  though  not  so  swiftly.  Then  he 
goes  on  to  say  that  "  these  northern  seas  have  been 
searched  by  one  Sebastian  Cabot,"  an  intimate  friend  then 
with  him  at  Seville,  and  continues  by  reporting  what  he 
had  heard  from  Cabot's  own  lips  bearing  upon  the  diffi- 
culty present  in  his  mind,  which  done,  he  says :  "  But  it 
shall  suffice  to  have  said  that  much  of  the  gulfs  and  straits 
and  of  Sebastian  Cabot.  Let  us  now,  therefore,  return 
to  the  Spaniards."  That  is,  return  to  the  main  subject 
of  his  work,  of  which  these  Cabot  notes  were  an  incident 
or  a  digression.  Bearing  this  in  mind — remembering 
that  Martyr  was  not  concerning  himself  with  the  doings 
of  the  English, — we  may  see  why  no  mention  of  John 
Cabot  is  made,  without  supposing  Sebastian  Cabot  to 
have  been  a  liar.  We  learn  from  the  "  Decades  "  that  it 
was  a  large  expedition,  with  three  hundred  men.  That 
one  note  marks  it  as  a  description  of  the  second  voyage. 
The  son  Sebastian  seems  to  arrogate  to  himself  the  whole 
inception  and  conduct  of  the  enterprise.  He  "fyrst  with 
three  hundred  men,  directed  his  course  so  farre  towards 
the  North  Pole  that,  even  in  the  moneth  of  July,  he  founde 
monstrous  heapes  of  ise  swymming  on  the  sea,  and,  in 
manner,  continuall  daylight;  yet  sawe  he  land  in  that 
tract  free  from  ise.  Thus,  seeing  such  heapes  of  ise  be- 
fore hym,  he  was  enforced  to  turne  his  sayles  and  folowe 
the  west,  so  coastynge  styll  by  the  shore,  that  he  was 
thereby  brought  so  farre  into  the  south  by  reason  of  the 
land  bending  so  much  southwarde  that  it -was  almost 
equall  in  latitude  with  the  sea  called  Fretum  Hercula- 
naum."  This  means,  in  short,  that  he  sailed  first  to  the 
coast  of  Labrador,  where  he  pushed  his  way  ■  north 
among  the  icebergs,  as  far  as  he  could  go,  and  then 
he  turned  south  and  coasted  along  shore  nearly  as  far 
as  the  latitude  of  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar.     All  of  this 


CABOT'S  SECOND  VOYAGE       41 

is  in  accord  with  the  physical  geography  of  the 
coast.  Robert  Thorne,  an  English  merchant,  resid- 
ing in  Seville,  sent  privately  to  King  Henry  VIIL, 
in  1527,  a  rough  sketch  of  a  map  in  order  to 
show  the  King  his  rightful  claim,  by  prior  discovery, 
to  a  large  part  of  the  American  coast.  Robert  Thome's 
father  had  been  upon  an  expedition  to  that  coast.     The 


Fig.    5.  Robert   Thome's    Map,  A.   D.    1527 

family  was  of  Bristol,  and  Robert  Thorne  himself  was 
much  concerned  with  shipping.  At  Seville  he  was  in  a 
position  to  know  Sebastian  Cabot,  and  Seville  was  then 
the  centre  of  western  discovery.  His  map  has,  for- 
tunately, been  preserved  in  Hakluyt's  "  Divers  Voyages," 
and  the  inscription  on  it.  Terra  hac  ah  Anglis  prima  fiiit 
inventa,  marks  the  coast  from  the  extreme  north  of 
Labrador  to  a  latitude  as  far  south  as  Lisbon ;  thus  con- 
firming Peter  Martyr's  report  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  state- 


42      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

ment.  Another  proof  that  this  voyage  was  the  second  of 
the  Cabot  voyages  is  the  fact  that  the  fleet  was  victualled 
for  a  year,  whereas,  the  contemporary  evidence  proved, 
beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  little  vessel  of  the  first  voyage 
had  to  return  for  want  of  provisions,  and  was  absent  only 
ninety-three  days.  Moreover,  there  is  no  mention  made 
of  ice  in  the  accounts  of  the  first  voyage,  and  in  all 
accounts  of  the  second  ice  and  icebergs  are  strongly 
emphasised  characteristics.  Still  another  confirmation  is 
that,  inasmuch  as  the  second  expedition  sailed  early  in 
May,  provisioned  for  a  year,  and  had  not  returned  on 
October  28,  there  was  abundant  time  to  make  the  exten- 
sive explorations  reported  by  Peter  Martyr,  while  it  is 
plainly  evident  that  there  was  not  time  on  the  first  voyage. 

Gomara,  in  his  "  General  History  of  the  Indies,"  gives 
an  account  of  the  same  voyage.  His  account  appears  to 
have  been  taken  from  the  "  Decades  "  of  Martyr,  though 
he  adds  some  details  from  another  source.  He  specifies 
58°  as  the  latitude  reached  in  the  north  (Hebron,  on  the 
Labrador  coast),  and  38°  on  the  south  (Cape  Henlopen, 
State  of  Delaware).  These  two  accounts,  the  former 
published  in  15 16,  when  Cabot  was  in  Seville,  and  the 
latter  in  1552,  after  he  had  gone  to  live  in  England,  con- 
firm each  other,  and  they  also  accord  with  the  physical 
geography  of  the  coast  of  Labrador  as  it  exists  at  the 
present  day.  "  Considering  the  cold,"  writes  Gomara, 
"  and  the  forbidding  nature  of  the  country,  he  turned  to 
the  south,  and  passing  the  Baccalaos,  he  proceeded  as 
far  as  38°,  returning  thence  to  England." 

The  high  latitude  reached  by  the  early  sailors  bears 
evidence  to  their  wonderful  skill  and  courage  in  navigat- 
ing their  little  craft.  Greely  observes  that  the  latitude 
yj^  45'  N.  attained  by  Baffin,  in  1616,  was  unequalled  in 
that  sea  for  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  years.  The  lati- 
tude reached  by  Cabot  is  variously  stated  from  56°  N.  to 
67°  30',  but  it  is  certain,  from  Ruysch's  map,  that  some 
years  before  1508  an  expedition  had  reached  the  mouth 
of  Hudson's  Strait.  Probably  Ruysch,  who  had  been  to 
America  on  a  Bristol  vessel,  was  on  this  very  expedition. 


CABOT'S  SECOND  VOYAGE       43 

Anyway,  he  appears  to  be  drawing  from  his  own  experi- 
ences in  the  legend  on  his  map.  "  Here  a  raging  sea 
begins,  here  the  compasses  of  ships  do  not  hold  their  prop- 
erties, and  vessels  having  iron  are  not  able  to  return." 
On  the  Hakluyt  map,  at  the  same  locality,  is  inscribed 
"  a  furious  overfall,"  and  Davis,  on  his  third  voyage,  in 
1586,  says  "  we  passed  a  very  great  gulfe,  the  water 
whirling  and  roaring  as  it  were  the  meeting  of  tides." 
These  are  unalterable  physical  facts  which  fix  the  locality 
beyond  cavil.  Admiral  Markham,  who  was  a  passenger  ' 
on  the  Canadian  Government  expedition  in  1886,  under 
Captain  Gordon,  remarked  the  commotion  peculiar  to 
Hudson's  Strait.  He  "  repeatedly  observed  comparatively 
large  pieces  of  ice  being  swept  with  great  velocity  in 
opposite  directions."  Captain  Gordon  found  the  dip  of 
the  needle  at  the  western  end  of  the  strait  to  be  80°.  He 
had  much  difficulty  because  of  the  sluggishness  of  the 
compass,  and,  in  singular  conformity  with  Ruysch's  note 
in  A.  D.  1508,  records  his  opinion  that  the  compasses  of 
an  iron  ship  passing  through  the  strait  would  not  work. 

The  main  features  of  the  voyage  of  1498  are  giyenp^ 
in  the  above  citations  from  contemporary  writings. 
Certain  characteristic  indications  demonstrate  that 
the  second  voyage  was  actually  made  to  the  regions 
stated.  The  icebergs,  the  field  ice,  the  polar  bears, 
the  fish,  the  continual  daylight,  and  especially  the 
casual  observation  that  the  natives  possessed  cop- 
per, are  incidental  notes  which  could  not  have  been 
invented.  Over  the  whole  theatre  of  controversy  it 
is  unnecessary  to  go.  Those  who  believe  that  the  region 
of  silk  and  brasil-wood  of  the  first  voyage  was  on  the 
coast  of  Labrador  between  53°  and  60°,  cannot  be  con- 
vinced by  futher  evidence.  Sebastian  Cabot  had  little 
further  connection  with  exploration  on  the  northeast 
coast  of  America.  We  learn  from  a  letter,  written  in 
1522,  to  his  government  by  the  Venetian  ambassador  to 
Spain,  that  Cabot  told  him  that  he  had  visited  England  in 
15 19,  and  that,  while  there.  Cardinal  Wolsey  had  pro- 
posed to  fit  out  an  expedition  if  he  would  command  it, 


44      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

and  that  he  had  refused  because  he  was  in  the  service  of 
Spain.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  he  told  the  truth 
about  Bacallaos  to  Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  that  there  was 
nothing  there  for  Spain,  and,  if  any  passage  to  Cathay 
did  exist,  it  was  far  to  the  north,  and  if  passable,  it  would 
be  within  the  demarcation  line  of  Portugal.  This  was 
the  opinion  of  Stephen  Gomez  also,  later  in  1525.  Both, 
in  all  probability,  suspected  the  existence  of  an  opening 
by  Hudson's  Strait,  but  such  a  passage,  if  found,  would 
be  more  injurious  than  beneficial  to  Spanish  interests, 
which  lay  entirely  in  the  latitudes  near  the  equator. 
When  Cabot,  in  his  old  age,  went  to  occupy  a  high  posi- 
tion in  the  naval  service  of  England,  he  devoted  his  ener- 
gies to  the  discovery  of  a  passage  to  China  by  the  north- 
east. He  was  deficient  in  candour  and  greedy  of 
reputation,  and  like  Columbus,  he  would  take  credit  for 
himself  at  anybody's  expense.  He  subordinated  his 
father's  merits  as  a  discoverer  to  his  own,  and,  therefore, 
his  father  has  narrowly  escaped  complete  oblivion ;  but 
it  must  be  noted  to  his  credit  that  in  the  only 
instance  where  information  comes  direct  from  him- 
self, as  in  the  legend  attached  to  the  map  of  1544, 
he  did  mention  his  father,  and  gives  precedence  to 
his  father's  name.  He  was  an  intriguer  in  an  age  of 
intrigue,  but  to  quote  from  a  recent  writer,  "  it  is  a 
monstrous  improbability  that  a  man  without  any  advant- 
ages of  birth,  wealth  or  influential  connections,  a  for- 
eigner among  two  jealous  nations,  should  be  no  geog- 
rapher, and  yet  incessantly  making  maps  for  public 
departments ;  no  cosmographer,  and  yet  called  on  as  an 
expert  in  important  suits,  and  as  a  commissioner  to  deter- 
mine the  line  of  demarcation ;  that  he  should  be  no  sailor, 
and  the  examiner  and  certificator  of  all  the  pilots  of 
Spain,  or  no  man  of  science,  and  the  censor  of  the  chair 
of  cosmography  for  the  council  of  the  Indies  and  the 
admiralty  of  Spain."  To  the  English  people  he  is  im- 
portant, mainly  because  he  preserved  the  knowledge  of 
the  second  and  more  extensive  voyage,  and  promul- 
gated it  through  Peter  Martyr,  Ramusio,  Gomara,  and 


Sebastian    Cabot 

inteinporaMeous  portrait  last  owned  by  Richard  Biddle 
fire  in  1845 


-destruved  bv 


CABOT'S  SECOND  VOYAGE       45 

others,  but  John  Cabot  is  the  real  discoverer,  the  real  hero 
of  both  voyages,  and  to  him  alone  the  Bristol  people  have 
erected  a  monument.  The  eccentric  and  able  Henry- 
Stevens  summed  up  the  whole  question  in  a  short  for- 
mula: "Sebastian  Cabot — John  Cabot=o."  Whatever 
claims  of  priority  England  possesses  on  the  American 
continent  she  owes  to  John  Cabot.  They  are  geographi- 
cally summarised  in  Robert  Thome's  rough  sketch.  It 
shows  a  discovery  of  the  coast  line  from  northern  Labra- 
dor along  the  Acadian  shores  of  the  Dominion,  and  along 
the  coast  of  the  United  States  as  far  south  as  Chesapeake 
Bay.  The  facts  are  succinctly  set  forth  in  the  writers 
quoted  above.  Those  who  care  to  enter  more  fully  into 
the  vexed  questions  of  detail  will  find  them  set  forth  in 
the  works  enumerated  in  the  list  at  the  close  of  this 
volume. 

The  absolute  silence  of  English  chronicles  concerning 
the  return  of  this  elaborately  planned  expedition  tells  of 
disappointment  and  pecuniary  loss.  There  could  not 
have  been  any  great  and  overwhelming  disaster ;  for  that 
would  have  been  recorded  by  the  survivors ;  or  if  there 
had  been  no  survivors,  the  catastrophe  would  have  been 
so  great  that  it  could  not  have  failed  to  find  place  in  our 
annals.  We  know  that  one  of  the  ships,  at  least,  re- 
turned, for  Launcelot  Thirkill  repaid,  in  1501,  the  loan  of 
thirty  pounds,  made  to  him  by  the  King  on  March  22, 
1498.  No  Cathay,  no  Cambaluc,  nor  Mangi,  nor  Zip- 
ango,  were  found.  There  was  no  outlet  for  "  points  "  or 
"  cloth  "  or  "  laces  "  among  the  fur-clad  Esquimaux,  or 
the  half-naked  Algonquin  tribes  of  the  more  southern 
region.  It  must  have  been  a  collapse  of  all  expectations, 
and  there  are  vague  indications  of  dissensions  which,  in 
cases  of  disappointed  hope,  are  sure  to  arrive.  Doubt- 
less the  fleet  was  scattered,  and  the  ships  came  back,  one 
by  one,  with  survivors  embittered  against  the  Italian  ad- 
venturer, who  they  would  think  had  deceived  them.  In 
his  address  at  the  Cabot  Commemoration,  at  Bristol,  on 
June  24,  1897,  the  late  Marquis  of  Dufferin  and  Ava 
brought  to  public  notice,  for  the  first  time,  some  manu- 


46      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

script  accounts  of  the  collectors  of  customs  at  Bristol,  in 
1497,  1498.  and  1499,  which  by  the  diligence  of  Mr. 
Edward  Scott  and  the  late  Mr.  Coote,  both  of  the  British 
Museum  staff,  had  been  discovered  in  the  Chapter  House 
of  Westminster  Abbey,  and  deciphered  and  translated. 
These  prove  that  two  years  of  John  Cabot's  pension  of 
twenty  pounds  had  been  paid.  The  grant  dated  from 
Lady-day  (March  25),  1497.  The  first  year,  therefore, 
had  elapsed,  and  the  second  commenced  to  accrue  before 
Cabot  sailed  in  May,  1498.  The  accounts  show  that  on 
September  29,  1499,  there  were  two  tallies  in  the  treas- 
ury for  twenty  pounds,  so  that  the  second  year's  pension, 
ending  with  Lady-day  (March  25),  1499,  had  been 
drawn.  No  later  entry  has  been  found,  and  nothing  ap- 
pears on  the  documents  to  indicate  whether  the  money 
was  paid  to  John  Cabot,  personally,  or  to  his  wife,  or  to 
his  assigns,  in  his  absence.  And  so  the  great  admiral  of 
a  few  months,  who  promised  islands  and  bishoprics  to  his 
followers,  passed  out  of  English  history.  The  English 
nation  did  not  know  the  time  of  its  opportunity,  and  had 
to  win  back  with  blood  and  treasure  much  of  the  terri- 
tory it  had  thrown  away.  From  those  despised  coasts 
of  Bacallaos,  for  centuries,  a  large  portion  of  the  food  of 
western  Europe  was  drawn.  Richer  than  the  mines  of 
Potosi,  these  treasures  replaced  themselves  by  a  peren- 
nial reproduction.  On  the  continent,  in  rear  of  the 
shores  coasted  by  Cabot,  have  grown  up  the  strength  of 
the  Northern  States,  and  the  promise  of  the  Dominion  of 
the  north.  That  growth  was  not  the  work  of  princes  or 
parliaments ;  it  was  the  unconscious  work  of  free  com- 
munities of  self-exiled  emigrants,  building  better  than 
they  knew. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  CORTE-REALS  AND  PORTUGUESE  DISCOVERY 

IN  A.  D.  1500,  and  during  the  reign  of  King  Em- 
manuel, called  "  The  Fortunate,"  Portugal  was  at 
the  summit  of  her  greatness.  She  was  the  most 
enterprising  maritime  power  in  Europe,  and  the 
commerce  of  Europe  crowded  her  ports.  Emmanuel  suc- 
ceeded in  1495,  ^"^  Vasco  da  Gama  was  sent  in  1497  on 
his  successful  expedition  to  the  East  Indies.  In  1500  Ca- 
bral  chanced  upon  the  discovery  of  the  coast  of  Brazil, 
which  thenceforth  became  a  possession  of  Portugal,  as  it 
was  east  of  the  line  of  demarcation  settled  by  the  treaty 
of  Tordesillas.  The  age  corresponded,  in  Portuguese  his- 
tory, with  the  age  of  Elizabeth  in  England.  The  court 
was  thronged  with  skilful  and  enterprising  sailors  from 
every  land,  and  the  noblemen  of  the  country  were  com- 
petent and  eager  for  maritime  adventure.  They,  as  well 
as  the  King,  felt  that  a  great  opportunity  had  been  lost  in 
rejecting  the  proposals  of  Columbus.  The  idea  of  a 
passage  to  India  by  the  west  was  not  new  to  them,  for  a 
letter  written  from  Florence  in  1474,  by  Toscanelli  to 
Fernan  Martins,  Canon  at  Lisbon,  proves  that  such  an 
idea  had  been  in  the  mind  of  Alphonso  V.,  then  King. 
Portuguese  sailors  had  discovered  and  occupied  the  Cape 
Verde  Islands,  Madeira,  and  the  Azores,  from  which  out- 
posts on  the  Western  Ocean  new  attempts  at  discovery 
were  being  incessantly  made.  The  predecessor  of  Emman- 
uel (John  II.)  had  been  disposed  to  listen  to  Columbus, 
but  had  been  dissuaded  by  the  advice  of  his  council- 
lors. The  reigning  monarch,  however,  supported,  if  he 
did  not  instigate,  a  similar  enterprise  somewhat  different 
in  direction.  There  might  be — probably  was,  so  they 
thought — land   in  the  north,   falling  within  the   Portu- 

47 


48      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

iguese  limits  under  the  treaty;  and  a  passage  to  the  East 
^)  Indies  free  from  Spanish  domination  might  in  that  way 
'{he  attained. 

Among  the  noble  families  of  Portugal  was  that  of 
Corte-Real,  a  name  bestowed  by  one  of  the  kings  upon  a 
gentleman  adventurer,  Vasqueanes  da  Costa,  on  account 
of  the  magnificence  of  his  house  or  of  his  suite.  One  of 
his  descendants  was  Joao  Vaz  Corte-Real,  hereditary 
governor  of  Angra,  one-half  of  the  island  of  Terceira, 
one  of  the  Azores,  He  had  three  sons ;  the  eldest,  Vas- 
queanes Corte-Real,  became  a  royal  councillor,  comp- 
troller of  the  King's  household  and  captain-governor  of 
the  islands  of  Terceira  and  St.  George  of  the  Azores ; 
the  other  sons  were  Miguel  and  Caspar.  From  their 
close  connection  with  this  group,  halfway  across  the 
Western  Ocean,  the  family  were  from  youth  familiar 
with  the  sea  and  absorbed  in  maritime  enterprises.  Gas- 
par  is  described  as  a  man  "  enterprising,  valorous,  and 
eager  to  gain  honour."  He  had  been  an  attached  servant 
of  the  Duke  of  Beja,  and  when  the  Duke  succeeded  as 
King  Emmanuel,  Caspar  Corte-Real  became  a  favourite 
courtier.  He  had  made  some  previous  attempt,  it  is  not 
clear  what,  at  western  discovery ;  but  it  had  not  suc- 
ceeded, and  on  May  12,  1500,  the  King  commissioned 
him  to  make  discoveries  in  the  north  and  northwest,  and 
gave  him  a  grant  of  all  the  lands  he  might  find.  Some  re- 
port of  the  Cabot  voyages  had  doubtless  reached  Portu- 
gal, and  the  King  would  naturally  be  anxious  to  assert  his 
right  to  the  lands  Cabot  had  intruded  upon.  The  chroni- 
cles vary  as  to  the  share  the  King  took  in  the  expedition. 
It  had  the  full  royal  authority,  but  much,  if  not  all,  of  the 
expense  was  borne  by  the  Corte-Reals.  There  were  two 
voyages  by  Caspar  Corte-Real,  in  the  latter  of  which  he 
perished.  These  separate  voyages  have  been  for  a  long 
time  confused,  and  that  by  many  writers.  They  are 
distinguished  by  Kohl,  but  historical  geography  is  in- 
debted to  Henry  Harrisse  for  the  discovery  and  publica- 
tion of  documents  which  clear  up  the  whole  question. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  voyages  of  Cabot,  we  are  indebted 


THE   CORTE-REALS  49 

mainly  to  the  news  letters  of  intelligent  Italian  envoys 
for  what  we  know  of  the  Corte-Real  discoveries.  A 
letter  from  Pietro  Pasqualigo,  Venetian  ambassador,  to 
his  government  and  another  to  his  brothers  at  Venice,  a 
letter  from  Albert  Cantino  to  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  ac- 
companied by  a  map  to  show  the  discoveries  made,  and 
short  extracts  from  the  histories  of  Antonio  Galvano  and 
Damian  de  Goes,  are  all  the  documents  we  can  rely  upon 
for  details  of  the  expeditions. 

The  first  expedition  sailed  from  Lisbon  under  com- 
mand of  Caspar  in  the  beginning  of  the  summer  of  A.  D. 
1500,  and  with  one  ship,  according  to  De  Goes :  but  Gal- 
vano says  he  sailed  from  Terceira  with  two  ships.  The 
fact  seems  to  be  that  the  expedition  touched  at  the  family 
island  in  the  Azores,  and  there  a  second  ship  probably 
joined.  The  direction  sailed  was  north,  and  he  came  to  a 
"  cool  region  with  great  woods,"  to  which  he  gave  the 
name  of  Green  Land  (Terra  Verde).  This  feature  of 
"  woods  "  marks  the  landfall  of  the  first  voyage  as  south 
of  a  definite  latitude.  It  is  applicable  to  any  part  of 
North  America  south  of  Labrador.  On  the  Cantino  map 
"  woods  "  are  plainly  portrayed  in  the  interior  of  the 
central  land.  This  Terra  Verde  is  not  the  Greenland  of 
our  maps,  or  of  the  Northmen  of  the  tenth  century,  but 
the  east  coast  of  Newfoundland.  According  to  Galvano 
Corte-Real  reached  a  region  lying  in  the  latitude  of  50° 
N.  He  found  the  inhabitants  barbarous,  and  of  a  dark 
colour.  For  defence  they  used  bows  and  arrows,  and 
darts  of  wood  with  points  hardened  in  the  fire.  They 
were  dressed  in  skins  of  animals,  and  they  lived  in  caves 
and  huts.  He  coasted  along  the  shores  of  the  country. 
A  letter  from  Albert  Cantino  to  the  Duke  of  Ferrara, 
dated  October  17,  1501,  is  very  important  as  confirming, 
from  an  independent  source,  the  information  given  in 
the  two  letters  of  Pietro  Pasqualigo,  but,  read  at  this  dis- 
tance of  time,  it  appears  to  confuse  together  the  voyages 
of  1500  and  1501.  The  commission  to  Caspar  Corte- 
Real  was  dated  May  12,  1500,  and,  necessarily,  was  prior 
to  his  departure.     Cantino  writes  of  a  voyage  north  for 


50      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

five  months  and  then  of  a  change  of  direction  to  north- 
west and  west  for  three  months,  when  land  was  found,  to 
which  must  be  added  the  time  spent  in  coasting  and  re- 
turning. The  confusion  is  evident,  for  it  is  certain  that 
Corte-Real  returned  the  same  year  from  his  first  expedi- 
tion. The  first  few  sentences  of  Cantino's  letter  embody 
information  concerning  the  first  voyage,  and  then  it 
passes  on  to  repeat  what  he  learned  regarding  the  second, 
Pasqualigo,  in  both  his  letters,  made  distinct  references 
to  a  previous  voyage  in  1500,  but  dwells  on  the  details  of 
the  voyage  of  1501.  From  Cantino's  map  we  learn  that 
Corte-Real  went  as  far  north  as  the  southern  point  of 
Greenland.  They  found  it  a  region  of  serrated  moun- 
tains, and  did  not  land.  The  cosmographers  of  the  day 
considered  it  to  be  a  point  of  Asia,  and  it  is  set  down  on 
the  map  as  such.  Corte-Real  attempted  to  push  farther 
northward,  but  was  stopped  by  "  enormous  masses  of 
frozen  snow  floating  upon  the  sea  [field  ice],  and  moving 
under  the  influence  of  the  waves."  Then  follows  a  touch 
in  the  narrative  which  proves  that  it  is  based  on  the  re- 
port of  men  who  had  really  seen  the  icebergs  of  the 
north.  "Owing  to  the  heat  of  the  sun,  sweet  and  clear 
water  is  melted  on  their  summits,  and  descending,  by 
small  channels,  formed  by  the  water  itself,  it  eats  away  at 
the  base  where  it  falls.  The  ships  now  being  in  want  of 
water  the  boats  were  sent  in,  and  in  that  way  as  much 
was  taken  as  was  needed."  The  fact  of  watering  a  ship 
at  an  iceberg  on  the  ocean  could  not  have  been  invented. 
Then  he  encountered  "  the  frozen  sea,"  probably  large 
masses  of  field  ice,  and  could  go  no  farther  north.  He 
reached,  says  Ramusio,  a  place  he  named  Rio  Nevado,  in 
lat.  60°  N. — a  river  loaded  with  snow.  This  was  prob- 
ably Hudson's  Strait.  He  returned  in  safety  to  Lisbon 
late  in  the  year.  His  exploration  of  the  eastern  coast  of 
Newfoundland  was  very  complete,  for  the  profiles  on  the 
earliest  maps  are  more  accurate  than  those  of  much  later 
date,  and  he  seems  to  have  named  many  places  on  the 
coast.  Thus,  by  A.  D.  1500,  the  whole  of  the  Atlantic 
coast   of   Newfoundland   had   been   discovered — on   the 


THE   CORTE-REALS  51 

south  by  Cabot  and  on  the  east  by  Corte-Real,  but  it  was 
by  both  supposed  to  be  a  part  of  the  mainland.  Besides 
this,  both  these  navigators  had  gone  north  along  the  coast 
of  Labrador,  as  far  as  Hudson's  Strait,  and  Corte-Real 
had  even  reached  Davis'  Strait. 

Caspar  Corte-Real  sailed  again  from  Lisbon  on  May 
15,  1501.  The  expedition  consisted  of  two  ships,*  and  the 
King  again  gave  his  active  concurrence.  The  course, 
however,  was  different,  and  land  not  before  known  to 
anyone,  2000  miles  from  Lisbon,  was  discovered  to  the 
west  and  northwest,  evidently  not  the  same  land  as  on 
the  former  voyage.  The  accounts,  in  substance,  are 
that,  after  finding  land,  they  coasted  to  the  north  and 
found  it  continuous  with  that  discovered  on  their  previ- 
ous voyage,  only  they  could  not  go  so  far  north  because 
the  ice  was  in  greater  quantity.  They  also  thought  that 
the  new  land  was  joined  to  the  region  discovered  at  the 
Antilles  by  the  Spaniards.  The  country  they  describe 
corresponds  to  the  coast  of  Acadia  and  the  northern 
United  States — they  could  find  no  end  to  it  in  either 
direction.  It  was  wooded  with  very  fine  timber  fit  for 
masts  of  ships,  and  there  were  very  large  rivers,  and 
"  when  they  landed  they  found  delicious  fruits  of  various 
kinds  and  trees  and  pines  of  marvellous  height  and 
girth."  It  was  a  populous  country.  The  natives  were 
clad  in  skins  and  lived  solely  by  hunting  and  fishing. 
They  kidnapped  a  number  of  them.  Fifty  were  in 
Corte-Real's  own  ship  and  seven  were  in  the  companion 
vessel  which  reached  Lisbon  safely  between  the  8th  and 
nth  of  October,  1501.  It  is  important  to  take  into  ac- 
count the  different  directions  if  we  would  understand 
this    second    voyage.     It    was    not,    says    Pasqualigo, 

*  Like  Kohl,  I  can  find  only  two  ships.  Galvano,  Cantino,  Pas- 
qualigo, and  the  Cantino  map  say  two,  and  although  it  may  be 
possible  to  argue  from  the  dates  of  return  that  there  were  three, 
it  is  better  to  read  the  documents  in  a  concurrent  sense,  where 
that  can  be  done.  PasquaHgo  gives  the  date  of  return  as 
October  9,  and  Cantino  says  it  v/as  October  11.  All  the  refer- 
ences are  to  the  same  vessel. 


52      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

"  north  as  in  the  past  year,"  but  "  northwest  and  west." 
Delaware  Bay  is  true  west  from  Lisbon,  and,  as  in  the 
cases  of  Cabot  and  Cohmibus,  the  tendencies  bearing 
southwards  on  a  western  course  of  such  a  length  as  2000 
miles  must  also  be  considered.  Pietro  Pasqualigo  wrote 
to  his  government,  and  to  his  brothers  at  Venice,  ac- 
counts of  the  voyage  heard  from  the  sailors,  and  Alberto 
Cantino  did  the  same  for  the  Duke  of  Ferrara.  They 
saw  some  of  the  kidnapped  natives,  and  describe  them  as 
shapely  in  form  and  modest  and  gentle  in  manner,  but 
dirty  in  their  habits.  They  were  marked  with  lines  on 
their  faces,  and  were  clothed  with  skins  of  animals, 
chiefly  otters.  From  the  description,  in  which  both  cor- 
respondents agree,  the  captives  could  not  have  been 
Esquimaux,  but  may  have  been  any  of  the  Algonquin 
tribes  of  the  American  coast.  Caspar  Corte-Real  never 
returned.  His  vessel  was  doubtless  the  larger  of  the  two, 
and  he  had  sent  his  consort  back,  intending  to  explore  the 
coast  further.  Whether  he  was  wrecked  or  fell  a  victim 
to  the  resentment  of  the  fellow  tribesmen  of  his  kid- 
napped captives  was  never  known.  One  point  of  great 
interest  is  related  by  Pasqualigo.  The  sailors  brought 
home  a  piece  of  a  broken  sword,  gilded  and  of  Italian 
make.  He  said  also  that  "  a  native  boy  had  two 
silver  rings  in  his  ears  which,  without  doubt,  seem  to 
have  been  manufactured  at  Venice."  Pasqualigo  argued 
from  that  that  the  land  discovered  "  must  be  the  main- 
land [meaning  Asia],  because  it  is  not  possible  that  a  ship 
could  ever  have  reached  that  place  without  being  heard 
of."  He  thought  the  articles  had  come  overland.  We 
recognise  them  as  relics  of  Cabot's  voyages. 

Miguel  Corte-Real  could  not  be  convinced  of  his 
brother's  death.  He  had  assisted  in  fitting  out  the  expedi- 
tion, and  had  even  prepared  a  vessel  to  join  the  second 
one,  but  had  been  prevented,  in  the  first  instance,  by 
royal  orders  and  then  by  contrary  winds.  Pie  obtained 
the  King's  consent  and  organised  a  search  expedition  of 
three  vessels.  They  sailed  from  Lisbon  on  May  10,  1502, 
but  nothing  was  ever  heard  again  of  the  vessel  in  which 


THE   CORTE-REALS  53 

Miguel  sailed.  They  had  arranged  that  in  order  to 
search  the  coast  more  thoroughly  the  vessels  should 
separate  and  meet  on  August  20,  at  an  appointed  rendez- 
vous. After  waiting  some  time  for  Miguel's  ship  the 
other  two  returned  without  him  to  Lisbon.  The  King, 
grieved  at  the  loss  of  his  favourite,  organised  an  expedi- 
tion the  following  year  (1503),  but  it  returned  without 
success.  Then  the  eldest  brother,  Vasqueanes  Corte- 
Real,  the  governor  of  Terceira,  sought  permission  to 
organise  another  searching  expedition.  King  Emmanuel, 
however,  refused  his  consent.  Thus  closed  this  inter- 
esting chapter  of  maritime  history. 

The  early  geographical  history  of  the  maritime  prov- 
inces of  Canada  is  plainly  written  in  the  earliest  Portu- 
guese maps.  From  Cape  Chidley  at  Hudson's  Strait  to 
the  Bay  of  Fundy  Portuguese  sailors  gave  names,  some 
of  which  have  persisted  to  this  day,  though  most  have 
been  overlaid  by  the  subsequent  activities  of  the  Bretons, 
while  of  the  names  given  by  Cabot  not  one  survives. 

The  earliest  delineation  of  the  northeast  coast  of  Amer- 
ica which  we  possess  subsequent  to  that  of  Juan  de  la 
Cosa  is  the  map  which  Albert  Cantino  had  drawn  by  a 
cartographer  in  Lisbon  to  show  the  Corte-Real  dis- 
coveries, and  sent  to  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  before  Novem- 
ber 19,  1502.  The  title  is  "  Carta  da  navigar  per  le 
isole  novamente  trovate  in  le  parte  de  I'lndia  "  (Sailing 
chart  for  the  islands  recently  discovered  in  the  regions  of 
India).  That  cannot  be  pressed  too  far  because,  as 
pointed  out  by  Harrisse,  the  map  covers  much  more  than 
the  newly  found  regions.  The  upper  part  shows  the  re- 
sults of  the  first  voyage.  Our  present  Greenland  is  seen 
at  the  top.  Lower  down  is  the  east  coast  of  Newfound- 
land, marked  Terra  del  Rey  de  Portuguall.  These  coasts 
are  not  named,  and  they  are  drawn  well  to  the  east  of 
the  line  of  demarcation,  which  on  the  sketch  is  indicated 
by  a  dotted  line.  Beyond  this,  far  to  the  west,  but  not 
to  the  south,  is  the  coast  of  America  found  on  the  second 
voyage.  There  are  names  along  the  coast  in  the  original, 
and  much  difference  of  opinion  exists  as  to  what  is  really 


54      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 


indicated.  The  position  of  Cuba  close  to  a  point  of  land 
naturally  suggests  that  the  point  is  Florida,  as  on  our  pres- 
ent maps ;  but,  on  examination,  it  will  be  seen  that  not 
only  Cuba,  but  every  one  of  the  Antilles  is  north  of  the 
line  of  the  Tropic,  whereas,  in  fact,  the  entire  group  is 
south  of  that  line.  The  latitude  is  io°  out  of  the  truth. 
If  these  islands  be  referred  to  their  true  latitude,  and  if 


OCEAdyS  OCCIOCMTALIS 


KP 


.U> 


4 


'*,.  c 


HAS  ANTILHAS 


?l  I  «i"i\H  a.    <uj/»A.'t  n  o  cVi  <*Xk  5 


Fig.  6.  Cantino  Map,  A.   D.   1501-02 

the  land  discovered  be  on  a  western  course  from  Lisbon, 
as  recorded  by  Pasqualigo,  there  will  be  a  proper  propor- 
tionate gap  between  the  continental  coast  and  the  island 
of  Cuba,  and  the  point  of  land  indicated  will  at  once  be 
seen  to  be  Cape  Hatteras.  where  the  American  coast 
bends  plainly  westward.  The  documents  and  the  map 
will  then  harmonise,  and  there  will  be  no  need  of  hypo- 
theses  of  "  unknown   navigators "   to   account   for   the 


THE   CORTE-REALS  55 

names.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  referring  to  the  Euro- 
pean side  of  the  map.  The  southern  point  of  the 
American  coast  is  opposite  to  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar. 
Gibraltar  and  Cape  Hatteras  are  both  very  nearly  on  the 
parallel  of  35°  N.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Corte- 
Real's  own  maps  are  not  extant,  and  that  Cantino  had 
this  map  drawn  for  him  by  some  unknown  cartographer 
after  the  "  cardes  "  (charts)  of  Corte-Real,  or  some  of 
his  sailors.  The  Azores  are  laid  down  as  well  as  part  of 
the  coast  of  Europe  and  Africa,  and  a  study  of  the  map 
may  reconcile  some  of  the  discrepancies  of  the  different 
accounts  as  to  distance.  Cantino  gives  the  distance  as 
2800  miles ;  Pasqualigo,  writing  to  the  Signiory  of 
Venice,  gives  it  at  1800  miles;  but  the  following  day 
■writes  his  brother  that  it  is  2000  miles.  In  those  days 
longitude  being  calculated  by  dead  reckoning,  errors  of 
great  magnitude  constantly  occur  on  the  early  maps,  but 
it  has  been  pointed  out  that  Corte-Real  made  his  last  de- 
parture from  the  Azores.  Lisbon  is  nearly  on  the  merid- 
ian of  10°  W. — the  Azores  are  on  30°  W.,  and  the  mouth 
of  Delaware  Bay  is  75°  W.  Sailing  on  that  latitude  de- 
grees of  longitude  are  forty-six  geographical  miles.  The 
distance  from  Lisbon,  his  first  departure,  directly  west  to 
the  mainland  of  America,  is  2990  miles,  but  from  the  last 
departure,  the  Azores,  it  is  2070  miles.  Italian  miles  are 
shorter  than  geographical  miles,  but  the  distances  given 
should  be  and  are  proportionate. 

The  descriptions  given  afford  conclusive  evidence  as 
to  the  region  indicated.  We  learn  that  the  land  of  1501 
was  believed  to  be  continuous  with  that  discovered  in  the 
north  in  1500.  The  nature  of  this  coast  should  be  noted. 
There  were  a  '*  multitude  of  large  rivers  " — "  a  very 
great  country  " — "  with  delicious  fruits  " — "  trees  and 
pines  of  marvellous  height  and  girth."  Then  Galvano 
says  there  were  "  so  many  mouths  of  rivers  [bocas  de 
rois]  and  harbours  [abras]  that  the  vessels  of  the  search 
expedition  of  1502  had  to  scatter  along  the  coast."  All 
these  indicate,  not  the  coast  of  Greenland,  not  of  Labra- 
dor certainly,  and  not  the  coast  of  Newfoundland,  where 


56      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

there  are  no  large  rivers  of  fresh  water,  but  the  coast  of 
the  northern  United  States  and  of  Acadia  up  to  a  locahty 
"  where  there  is  a  very  great  abundance  of  sahnon, 
herrings,  cod  [stockafis]  and  similar  fish."  On  the  prin- 
ciple of  not  invoking  an  unknown  cause  to  account  for 
anything  where  a  known  and  sufficient  agent  exists,  it  is 
clearly  more  reasonable  to  think  that  these  coasts  were 
examined  by  some  of  the  Corte-Real  expeditions  than  to 
invoke  the  intervention  of  any  unknown  navigators. 

The  next  map  showing  these  discoveries  at  the  north 
is  a  Portuguese  chart  of  A.  D.  1502  or  1504.  Some 
names  are  given,  and  two  of  the  five  still  persist  on  the 
coast.  The  landfall  was  evidently  close  to  Conception 
Bay,  and  is  marked  Cabo  de  Concepicion.  The  Baya  de 
Santa  Cyria  is  the  present  Trinity  Bay.  Next  to  the 
north  is  Cabo  de  San  Antonio,  evidently  the  present  Cape 
Bonavista.  Then  follows  Rio  de  Rosa,  Bonavista  Bay, 
(for  the  name  Bonavista  does  not  appear  upon  the  coast 
at  so  early  a  date).  The  next  name,  Ilha  de  Frey  Luiz, 
still  persists — distorted  into  Cape  Freels.  The  last, 
Baxos  do  medo,  is  not  a  name,  but  a  note,  "  dangerous 
shoal."  It  is  near  the  north  of  Newfoundland.  A  little 
beyond  that  point  the  coast  of  Labrador  trends  away  to  the 
northwest,  as  in  fact  it  does,  and  opposite  is  the  coast  of 
Greenland.  The  Strait  of  Belle-Isle  was  then,  and  for 
many  years  after,  taken  for  a  bay.  From  the  accurate 
contour  of  this  map  it  appears  that  the  statement  of  Ra- 
musio  is  correct — that  Corte-Real  went  up  as  far  as  60°  N. 
to  the  Rio  Nevado,  the  position  of  which  is  shown  on 
later  Portuguese  maps.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  coast 
of  Newfoundland  is  continued  south  from  Conception 
to  what  must  be  Cape  Race,  where  it  turns,  but  there  is  a 
line  running  west  from  Conception  as  a  double  coast  line, 
the  intention  of  which  is  not  clear. 

The  most  striking  feature  on  the  whole  northeast  coast 
of  America  is  beyond  question  Cape  Race.  As  has  been 
shown,  it  appears  on  La  Cosa's  map  as  Cavo  di  Yngla- 
terra,  but  on  what  is  known  as  the  "  King  map,"  dated 
1501    (figure  2),  it  is  laid  down — the  only  name — on  a 


THE  CORTE-REALS 


57 


profile  of  the  Newfoundland  coast,  beyond  doubt  taken 
from  Corte-Real's  explorations.  The  name  Capo  Raso 
(flat  cape)  is  Portuguese,  and  figure  3  shows  that  it  is 
an  excellent  summary  of  its  physical  characteristics. 

Figure  7  is  an  extract  from  a  chart  of  the  Atlantic, 
made  in  1504  or  '05,  by  a  celebrated  Portuguese  pilot 
— Pedro  Reinel — who  afterwards  left  Portugal  and 
entered  the  service  of  Spain.     It  shows  how  thoroughly 


Fig.  7.  Pedro  Reinel's  Map,  A.  D.     1505 

the  Portuguese  had  explored  the  east  coast  of  Newfound- 
land at  that  early  date.  Three  more  names  are  upon  it 
which  survive  under  distorted  forms,  Rio  de  San  Fran- 
cisque  (Cape  St.  Francis)  ;  C.  da  Espera  (Cape  Spear), 
and  Isla  dos  Bacalhas  (Bacalhao  Island).  Cape  Bona- 
vista  is  not  marked,  and  it  should  be  observed  that  the 
Island  of  Sam  Joha  (St.  John)  is  laid  down,  and  that  it  is 
opposite  a  point  of  the  adjoining  coast,  which  can  be  none 
other  than  Cape,  Breton.  It  was  pointed  out  in  a  preced- 
ing chapter  that  Cabot's  landfall  of  1497  was  marked  by 
a  single  island,  which  he  named  St.  John.      Reinel  has 


58      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

shown  it  plainly.  This  chart  is  also  of  prime  importance, 
because,  not  only  does  the  name  C.  Raso  establish  the 
early  recognition  of  Cape  Race, — the  key  point  of  the 
geography  of  the  whole  coast, — but  it  declares  by  the  sub- 
sidiary staff  pointing  to  the  true  north  that  the  variation 
of  the  compass  in  that  part  of  the  Atlantic  at  that  time 
was  21°  W.  If  the  latitude  of  Cape  Race  and  Sam  Joha 
are  read  to  the  true  meridian  on  the  inclined  staff  they 
will  be  found  nearly  correct.  Cape  Race  is  actually  46° 
39',  and  Scatari  Island  is  45°  50'.  Thus  early  were  the 
Atlantic  shores  of  British  North  America  discovered, 
while  it  was  reserved  to  Jacques  Cartier  to  open  up,  thirty 
years  later,  the  great  avenue  to  the  west — the  St.  Law- 
rence valley. 


CHAPTER  V 

MYTHICAL  PRE-COLUMBIAN  DISCOVERIES 

j4  NYONE  may  see  what  an  easy  task  it  was  to  dis- 
/%  cover  America  if  he  will  sit  down  in  a  library  to 
y  \  study  a  good  globe ;  and  some  writers,  after 
proving  that  the  Basques  could  have  discovered 
America,  suddenly  assume  that  they  did  discover  it, 
and  then  add  that  what  the  Basques  found  so  easy 
in  recent  times  was  also  easily  practicable  in  times 
more  remote.  With  equal  appositeness  a  Portuguese 
writer  observes  that  the  Portuguese  fishermen  went 
as  far  as  the  Basque  fishermen.  That  may  be  ad- 
mitted, but  it  is  no  evidence  that  either  reached 
Newfoundland  before  Cabot.  Nothing  seems  easier  on 
a  globe.  In  fact,  whoever  started  out  at  any  time  from 
the  western  shores  of  Europe  to  do  it  could  not  fail  to  hit 
America  somewhere  if  he  only  stayed  afloat  and  alive, 
and  kept  his  vessel's  head  to  any  point  between  north- 
west and  southwest.  So  we  have  disquisitions  upon  the 
nautical  enterprises  of  the  Phoenicians,  the  Carthaginians, 
the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  the  Arabs,  the  Welsh,  the 
Bretons,  the  Normans,  and  others,  until  it  seems  that 
every  nation  in  Europe  or  Asia  must  have  discovered 
America  at  some  time  or  other  before  Columbus.  It  is 
not  the  object  of  the  present  volume  to  inquire  into  the 
marine  of  these  nations  which  could,  but  did  not,  discover 
the  western  hemisphere.  The  voyages  of  the  Northmen 
are  of  set  purpose  reserved  from  consideration  in  this 
volume,  but  it  is  germane  to  the  present  theme  to  discuss 
shortly  those  supposed  discoveries  on  the  northeastern 
coast  of  America  which,  it  is  claimed,  had  an  influence 
upon  the  mind  of  Columbus  and  led  up  to  the  great  pub- 

59 


6o      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

lie  discovery  whieh  has  transformed  the  world.  It  is 
only  possible  to  discuss  such  of  them  as  have  taken  on 
definite  shape.  "  Immemorial  traditions  "  do  not  admit  of 
discussion  ;  for  whatsoever  thinp^s  men  may  choose  to 
believe  without  evidence  fall  within  the  domain  of  faith. 
Besides,  some  of  these  "  immemorial  traditions  "  started 
up  in  quite  recent  times.  They  are  "  traditions  "  because 
they  have  no  foundation  capable  of  proof,  and  they  are 
"  immemorial  "  because  no  one  knows  who  started  them. 
Many  Portuguese  writers  are  not  content  with  the 
unquestioned  achievements  of  their  countrymen — of  Gas- 
par  Corte-Real,  of  Diaz,  of  Vasco  da  Gama,  and  the  other 
great  sailors  who  carried  the  flag  of  Portugal  into  all 
seas ;  they  dispute,  not  only  with  England,  but  with 
Spain,  priority  in  the  discovery  of  America ;  and  as  their 
claims  refer  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard  of  British  America, 
they  call  for  examination  here.  The  only  one  which  has 
been  put  forth  in  definite  form  is  that,  in  A.  D.  1464,  Joao 
Vaz  Corte-Real  (the  father  of  Caspar),  in  conjunction 
with  Alvaro  Martins  Homem,  discovered  the  "  Isle  of 
Codfish,"  and  that,  in  the  same  year,  a  royal  grant  for  it 
was  issued  to  them  on  condition  that  they  would  divide 
it  between  them.  This  claim  appeared  first  in  print  in 
the  "  Historia  Insulana  "  of  Antonio  Cordeiro,  published 
in  171 7.  It  was  copied  by  Sir  John  Barrow  in  his 
"  Chronological  List  of  Voyages,  London,  1818,"  as  an 
established  fact ;  and,  from  his  work,  it  has  been  repeated. 
It  has  been  put  forward  of  late  years  with  much  ability 
by  Ernesto  do  Canto  and  Luciano  Cordeiro,  and  every 
little  while  it  crops  up  as  something  new  and  important. 
The  story  has  been  carefully  sifted  and  has  been  pro- 
nounced unfounded  by  Humboldt,  Biddle,  Winsor,  Kohl, 
Harrisse,  Major,  Gafifarel,  and  almost  all  scholars  of 
eminence,  and  it  bears  its  refutation  on  its  face.  Martin 
Behaim  spent  many  years  in  Portugal  and  at  Fayal  in  the 
Azores,  and  he  married  the  daughter  of  the  governor  of 
that  island,  but  no  hint  of  such  a  discovery  exists  upon 
his  globe.  If  it  were  true  that  such  a  discovery  had  been 
made,  it  would  certainly  have  been  known  also  to  the 


MYTHICAL   DISCOVERIES        6ii 

King  of  Portugal,  who  is  stated  to  have  made  the  grant. 
Such  knowledge  could  not  have  failed  to  come  out  in  the 
endless  disputes  concerning  the  line  of  demarcation,  dur- 
ing which  all  the  eminent  pilots  of  Spain  and  Portugal 
gave  evidence.  It  would  have  won  the  case  for  Portugal, 
but  it  was  never  pleaded ;  nor  did  it  come  out  in  the 
defence  of  the  suit  of  the  heirs  of  Columbus  against  the 
Crown. 

The  Portuguese  writers  who  advocate  these  claims  cite 
a  large  number  of  documentary  authorities,  and  so  give 
them  an  appearance  of  documentary  support.  But  when 
examined  they  all  fade  away  into  vague  general  state- 
ments or  prove  irrelevant  to  the  question.  It  is  true  that 
there  would  be  nothing  extraordinary  if  a  discovery  had 
been  made  by  Joao  Vaz,  seeing  that  he  was  addicted  to 
nautical  pursuits,  and  it  is  also  true  that  Francesco  de 
Souza  might,  perhaps,  have  mentioned  such  a  voyage  in 
a  manuscript  which  was  lost  in  the  great  earthquake  at 
Lisbon,  but  that  is  not  proof  that  there  ever  was  such  a 
voyage  or  that  Souza  did  make  such  mention.  Then  the 
numerous  grants  cited  as  having  been  made  are  all  pros- 
pective. They  are  for  islands  to  be  discovered ;  for  the 
island  of  the  Seven  Cities  "  pretended  to  have  been  dis- 
covered," and  for  islands  in  directions  unstated  and  which 
the  documents  show  had  not  actually  been  discovered. 

It  might  be  said  without  reserve  that  all  theories  of 
discoveries  on  the  northeast  coast  of  America  made  for 
Portuguese  sailors  before  Cabot  and  Caspar  Corte-Real 
have  no  foundation  in  fact.  More  recently  the  locality  of 
a  supposed  pre-Columbian  discovery  of  America  has 
shifted  to  the  Antilles  and  the  South  American  continent. 
These  are  beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  work ;  but  one 
consideration  is  fatal  to  them  all.  The  court  of  Portu- 
gal in  1492  was  the  resort  of  the  most  skilled  and  active 
pilots  in  Europe,  and  nautical  science  was  cultivated  with 
the  keenest  interest.  The  proposals  of  Columbus  were 
twice  submitted  to  committees  of  experts  on  his  council 
by  the  King  and  if  these  claims  had  any  foundation  it  is 
impossible  to  imagine  that  there  .was  no  one  in  Portugal 


62      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

who  knew  of  these  early  voyages,  or  could  point  out  on 
the  early  charts  those  lands  and  names  which  have 
recently  been  taken  to  stand  for  portions  of  the  western 
world.  This  question  is  now  academic, — of  interest  to 
students  of  history  and  not  of  practical  moment, — ^but 
then,  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  it  was  burning 
in  the  hearts  of  men  wakening  up  to  the  new  learning, 
and  we  can  never  scan  the  charts  of  Andrea  Bianco  or 
others  of  his  day  with  the  eager  curiosity  of  the  daring 
seamen  of  Lisbon  and  the  Atlantic  Islands  of  Portugal ; 
nor  can  we  read  as  they  could  the  archaisms  and  con- 
ventionalities of  their  methods  of  cartography.  All  the 
mass  of  citation  piled  up  upon  the  question  on  the 
authority  of  Azorean  documents  and  writers  is  not  proof, 
nor  even  presumptive  proof.  On  candid  examination  it 
leaves  upon  the  mind  the  effect  of  disproof. 

The  voyages  of  the  Basques  have,  strange  to  say, 
received,  in  proportion,  more  attention  from  Canadian 
writers  than  from  the  writers  of  Europe.  The  claims  of 
the  Portuguese  have  attracted  little  notice  in  Canada, 
though  far  more  plausible.  There  is  a  romantic  mystery 
enshrouding  this  inscrutable  people  in  which  all  things 
become  possible.  In  a  collection  of  documents  relating 
to  the  history  of  Canada  published  by  the  government  of 
the  Province  of  Quebec,  among  the  earliest  (No.  4), 
under  the  heading  "  Basques  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence," is  one  to  the  effect  that  although  "  there  are  no 
records  of  the  first  voyages  of  the  French  there  are  never- 
theless ample  proofs  that  they  made  several  voyages  of 
great  extent  prior  to  the  discoveries  of  the  Portuguese  and 
Spaniards."  It  continues,  "  the  Basques  and  the  Bretons 
have  been  for  several  centuries  the  only  people  who  fol- 
low the  whale  and  cod  fisheries,  and  it  is  very  remarkable 
that  Sebastian  Cabot  when  he  discovered  the  coast  of 
Labrador  found  there  the  name  Bacallos  which  in  the 
Basque  language  signifies  codfish."  This  extract  is  said 
to  be  from  an  old  manuscript  without  a  date,  although  it 
is  placed  in  the  collection  at  A,  D.  1497  to  the  confusion 
of  the  unwary  reader. 


MYTHICAL   DISCOVERIES        63 

That  somebody,  somewhere,  and  at  some  time,  held 
such  opinions  is  not  important  and  hardly  demands  a 
position  in  the  forefront  of  any  collection  of  historical 
documents.  The  Basques  and  Bretons  were  early  on  the 
coasts  of  Canada,  as  will  appear  in  the  following  chapter, 
and  the  fact  is  admitted  by  all ;  but  that  they  were  there 
before  Cabot  is  disproved  by  the  evidence  of  the  greatest 
Basque  sailor  of  the  age  of  Columbus.  In  like  manner 
we  read  in  an  important  Canadian  history  that  while 
Jacques  Cartier  is  "  generally  regarded  as  the  first  who 
penetrated  into  the  interior  of  Canada,"  that  country  had 
then  been  already  known  to  the  French,  and  that  the 
Basques  had,  one  hundred  years  before  Columbus,  not 
only  discovered  Newfoundland  and  its  fishing  banks,  but 
Canada  as  well.  Moreover,  that  a  Basque  sailor,  familiar 
with  the  Newfoundland  coasts,  had  imparted  the  infor- 
mation to  Columbus. 

Such  statements  as  these  tending  to  detract  from  the 
achievements  of  Columbus,  Cabot,  Cartier,  and  other 
great  sailors  should  not  be  made  excepting  upon  good 
evidence.  They  have  often  been  disproved,  nevertheless 
they  are  so  incessantly  repeated  that  we  seem  to  be  per- 
ilously near  another  "  immemorial  tradition  "  in  Canada, 
and  it  is  necessary  in  a  volume  concerning  discoveries  on 
the  northeast  coast  of  America  to  consider  them  once 
more. 

During  the  six  weary  years  of  poverty  and  disappoint- 
ment passed  by  Columbus  while  urging  his  proposals  for 
the  discovery  of  lands  across  the  Atlantic ;  while  his 
theories  were  examined  and  reported  upon  by  commis- 
sions of  men  versed  in  all  the  nautical  knowledge  exist- 
ing in  Spain  and  Portugal,  no  one  arose  and  said  that 
Basque  sailors  had  been  fishing  for  a  hundred  years  upon 
the  coasts  of  Bacallaos  in  the  far  northwest  across  the 
ocean.  If  any  sailors  had  been  fishing  there  it  was  not 
for  amusement;  it  must  have  been  a  commercial  enter- 
prise, and  they  had  to  dispose  of  their  fish.  They  could 
not  have  kept  the  knowledge  secret;  for  the  vessels,  of 
necessity,  would  have  to  frequent  many  ports  to  dispose 


64      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

of  the  immense  quantities  of  their  catch.  Such  treasures 
of  ocean  could  no  more  have  been  kept  secret  then  than 
the  treasures  of  California  or  Australia  in  our  day.  Let 
it  be  supposed  that  they  made  the  attempt  to  keep  the 
secret  to  themselves.  Juan  de  La  Cosa  was  a  Basque, 
one  of  themselves,  born  at  Santoiia  on  the  Bay  of  Biscay, 
not  only  a  sailor,  but  a  ship  owner.  As  owner  and  captain 
of  the  Santa  Maria  he  chartered  her  to  Columbus,  and 
sailed  in  her  on  the  memorable  first  voyage  of  149  2.  In 
the  year  1500  he  was  employed  by  the  King-,  Ferdinand,  to 
make  a  map  of  the  world.  This  map  is  still  extan:,  and 
upon  those  very  coasts  of  British  America,  said  to  have 
been  frequented  by  Basque  sailors  for  a  hundred  years, 
he  wrote  for  the  King  of  Spain's  own  eye  "  Mar  descu- 
bierto  por  les  Yngleses  "  (Sea  discovered  by  the  English), 
and  he  placed  English  flags  all  along  the  northeast  coast. 

It  is  unquestioned  that  the  Basques  both  of  Spain  and 
France  were  from  early  times  the  boldest  seamen  along 
the  coasts  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  were  skilled  to  dare 
the  dangers  of  the  most  storm-vext  region  of  the  lurbu- 
lent  Western  Ocean.  It  is  not  disputed  that  at  the  ])eriod 
now  treated  upon  they  were  the  most  successful  ^vhale- 
hunters,  and  that  they  followed  the  whales  far  out  to  sea 
when,  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  they  became 
scarce  near  the  coast.  It  is  quite  true  that  they  were 
capable  of  discovering  America  so  far  as  seamanship  is 
concerned,  but  that  they  did  discover  America  is  an 
assertion  without  any  basis  of  proof. 

As  soon  as  the  evidence,  or  what  is  called  evidence,  is 
examined,  it  fades  away  into  that  kind  of  assertion 
euphemistically  called  "  immemorial  tradition."  These 
traditions  were  diligently  inquired  into  by  Martin  Fernan- 
dez de  Navarrete  for  his  great  collection  of  voyages  and 
discoveries  published  in  1825-37  at  Madrid  under  royal 
authority.  He  searched  the  records  of  San  Sebastian 
and  the  ports  of  Guipuzcoa,  and  of  the  other  Basque 
provinces,  most  thoroughly,  and  found  no  traces  of  Basque 
voyages  until  after  the  return  of  Stephen  Gomez  in  1526. 
He  concluded,  hov/cver,  that  from  the  year  1502  Basque, 


MYTHICAL   DISCOVERIES        65 

conjointly  with  Breton  fishermen,  began  to  frequent  the 
coasts  of  Newfoundland.  A  similar  inquiry  was  made 
by  Mr.  (now  Sir  Clements)  Markham.  He  visited  every 
important  town  in  the  Basque  provinces  of  Spain,  from 
Cape  Penas  to  the  French  frontier.  The  results  were 
presented  to  the  Zoological  Society  of  London.  He 
found  that  whales  began  to  be  scarce  in  the  seventeenth 
century  and  then  the  whalers  began  to  make  long  voyages. 
Mateas  de  Echeveste,  who  some  suppose  to  have  dis- 
covered Newfoundland  before  Columbus,  did  really  fre- 
quent that  coast,  but  his  series  of  twenty-eight  voyages 
began  in  the  year  1545,  and  Columbus  died  in  I5p6. 

The  most  definite  form  in  which  the  Basque  claim  of 
priority  appears  is  that  Juan  de  Echaide,  of  San  Sebas- 
tian, in  the  province  of  Guipuzcoa,  discovered  the  Banks 
as  well  as  the  Island  of  Newfoundland  at  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  No  authority  is  found  upon  which 
the  statement  is  based.  This  being  accepted  for  fact, 
some  proceed  to  confirm  it  by  the  surprising  assertion 
that  the  "  Canadian  Indians  would  not  trade  with  the 
French  in  any  other  language  than  Basque."  Support 
for  this  grotesquely  absurd  statement  is  offered  by  refer- 
ences to  "  Pierre  de  I'Ancre,"  "  Tableau  de  I'inconstance 
des  mauvais  anges,"  and  to  "  Leonce  Goyetche,"  "  St. 
Jean  de  Luz  Historique  et  pittoresque,"  Bayonne,  1856. 
Reference  is  also  made  to  Father  Lallemant  (Jesuit  Rela- 
tions, A.  D.  1626),  who  wrote:  "The  Indians  [of 
Acadia]  call  the  sun  Jesus,  and  it  is  belived  the  Basques, 
who  formerly  frequented  these  places,  introduced  the 
name." 

The  preceding  are  claims  on  behalf  of  the  Basques  of 
Spain  (Guipuzcoans),  but  similar  claims  are  put  forward 
for  the  French  Basques  of  St.  Jean  de  Luz,  of  Siboure, 
and  of  other  Basque  ports  in  the  south  of  France.  These 
are,  if  possible,  vaguer  still,  and  no  name  or  approximate 
date  is  given.  It  is  only  that  "  there  is  reason  to  believe," 
or  that  "  the  respective  writers  believe  that  the  Basques 
discovered  Newfoundland  one  hundred  years  before  the 
voyage  of  Columbus."    The  passage  in  the  "  Jugemens 


66      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

d'OI^ron,"  sometimes  referred  to,  is  such  a  statement  in 
the  work  "  Les  Us  et  Coutumes  de  la  Mer,"  dated  1671, 
and  is  a  note  upon  the  text  of  the  main  work. 

Margry  (Navigations  Frangaises),  without  commit- 
ting himself  to  their  truth,  dwells  at  length  upon  the 
claims  of  the  French  Basques ;  but  gives  only  the  usual 
traditions.  He  quotes  from  a  manuscript  memorial,  pur- 
porting to  have  been  presented,  in  1710,  by  the  merchants 
of  St.  Jean  de  Luz  and  of  Siboure,  in  which  it  was  set 
forth  that,  from  time  immemorial,  the  Basques  of  France 
had  been  whalers,  and  that  they  had  gone  westwards 
until  they  came  upon  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland,  and 
found  a  prodigious  quantity  of  fish.  This  memorial  is 
not  authenticated  by  names,  and  gives  no  date  to  the  time 
of  discovery.  No  one  disputes  that  the  Basques  of  France 
also  frequented  the  coasts  of  Newfoundland  and  Canada 
at  a  very  early  date.  What  remains  to  be  proved  is  that 
they  went  there  before  A.  D.  1501. 

In  connection  with  these  theories,  reference  is  some- 
times made  to  the  Atlas  of  Andrea  Bianco,  A.  D.  1436. 
It  was  urged  by  Formaleoni,  in  1783,  and  has  been 
pressed,  in  connection  with  these  mythical  voyages  an- 
terior to  Columbus,  that,  on  the  seventh  sheet,  is  an  island 
called  "  Scorafixa  or  Stokafixa,"  very  far  west  in  the 
Atlantic,  and  corresponding  to  the  position  of  Newfound- 
land. An  examination  of  the  photographic  fac-similes 
in  the  Lenox  Library,  New  York,  made  with  the  kind 
permission  of  Mr.  Fames,  the  learned  librarian,  does  not 
confirm  this  statement.  The  place  is  not  "  far  to  the  west 
of  the  Atlantic,"  but  on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  map, 
and  the  edges  of  the  map  cut  it.  It  is  to  the  north  of 
Stilanda,  which  is  also  cut  by  the  edge,  but  which  stands 
for  the  Shetlands,  as  is  shown  in  the  works  on  northern 
voyages,  while  the  land  to  the  north  may  be  either  the 
Faroe  Islands,  or  Iceland.  The  name  on  the  island  is 
ya  Novcrcha  stockfis.  To  follow  this  inquiry  further 
would  lead  to  a  discussion  of  the  Zeni  voyages.  For  our 
present  purpose  it  is  sufiicient  to  say  that  both  these  lands 
(Novercha  and  Stilanda),  are  close  to  the  coast  of  Nor- 


MYTHICAL  DISCOVERIES        67 

way.  The  position  of  both  absolutely  excludes  the  west- 
ern Atlantic,  or  the  possibility  of  any  portion  of  America 
being  intended.  These  northern  islands  belonged  to 
Norway,  and  were  the  sources  of  the  supply  of  stockfish 
(cod)  at  that  period.  Lelewel,  commenting  upon  the 
map,  observes  that  "  these  [Novercha  and  Stockfis]  are 
not  two  names,  but  a  note  to  the  effect  that  the  stockfish 
exported  from  Norway  is  caught  there." 

The  claims  of  the  French  of  Dieppe  do  not  call  for 
remark  in  this  volume,  inasmuch  as  they  have  reference 
to  the  coast  of  South  America,  and  to  the  adventures  of 
Jean  Cousin  and  Vincent  Pinzon,  his  insubordinate  lieu- 
tenant. The  claim  made  for  Skolno,  the  Polish  pilot,  in 
the  services  of  Christian  I.  of  Denmark,  may  also  be 
passed  over,  for  the  voyage  has  no  basis  of  authentic 
fact.  The  expeditions  of  Prince  Madoc  of  Wales,  with 
which  Hakluyt  opens  his  American  Voyages,  are  supposed 
to  relate  to  Florida,  and  the  Welsh-speaking  Indians  are 
taken  to  be  either  the  Tuscaroras,  the  Shawnees,  or  the 
Mandans.  The  subject  is  better  left  with  the  poets.  The 
Zeni  voyages  are  accepted  by  some,  but  their  authenticity 
has  not  been  maintained ;  and  in  any  case,  they  can  be 
most  conveniently  discussed  in  connection  with  the  voy- 
ages of  the  Northmen,  nor  is  it  profitable  to  discuss  what 
"  unknown  voyagers  "  may  have  done,  save  to  remark 
that  from  all  the  indications  existing,  their  field  was  in 
the  southern  regions  discovered  by  Columbus. 

A  discussion  of  the  early  traces  of  Portuguese  and 
Basque  sailors  upon  these  coasts  leads,  naturally,  into  an 
inquiry  into  the  meaning  of  the  two  very  early  names, 
Labrador  and  Bacallaos.  There  is  no  completely  satis- 
factory account  of  the  origin  of  the  name  of  Labrador. 
Its  position  varies  on  the  earliest  maps.  Sometimes  it  is 
on  the  coast  of  Greenland,  and  sometimes  on  the  present 
Labrador.  The  coast  of  Newfoundland,  which  in  early 
maps  is  a  part  of  the  mainland,  is  at  first  Terra  Corterealis, 
but  the  name  Bacallaos  is  soon  substituted.  To  the 
north  of  these  names  is  Terra  Laboratoris,  Labrador, 
Lavrador,  or  Lavradore.    Labrador  is  Spanish,  and  Lav- 


68      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

rador  is  Portuguese,  meaning  an  agricultural  labourer, 
and  to  the  present  day  in  Mexico  a  peon,  or  field 
hand,  is  called  a  "  labrador."  In  the  letter  of  Pietro 
Pasqualigo  to  his  brothers  at  Venice,  dated  October  19, 
1 50 1,  he  gives  a  description  of  seven  of  the  natives,  men, 
women,  and  children,  who,  only  a  few  days  before,  had 
been  brought  to  Lisbon  by  one  of  Corte-Real's  vessels. 
Fifty  others,  he  adds,  are  expected  every  hour  to  arrive 
on  the  other  caravel.  Cantino's  letter  to  the  Duke  of 
Ferrara  confirms  this,  and  he  states  that  he  has  "  seen, 
touched  and  examined  them,"  and  that  they  are  "  bigger 
than  our  people,  and  with  well  formed  limbs  to  cor- 
respond." Pasqualigo  adds :  "  This  most  serene  King 
hopes  to  derive  very  great  profit  from  the  new  land,  both 
from  the  wood  for  ships,  of  which  they  have  need,  and 
from  the  men,  who  zvill  be  excellent  for  labour,  and  the 
best  slaves  that  have  hitherto  been  obtained."  This  re- 
corded opinion  of  the  King  has,  since  Biddle's  time,  been 
generally  accepted  as  the  origin  of  the  name ;  or  the 
name  was,  at  least,  supposed  to  have  been  derived  from 
this  extensive  kidnapping.  Other  navigators  in  the 
North,  in  later  years,  were  content  to  take  a  few  natives 
to  train  them  as  interpreters ;  but  this  voyage  developed 
into  a  slaving  voyage,  hence  the  name  "  labourer's  coast " 
was  almost  equivalent  to  "  slave  coast,"  and  with  refer- 
ence to  Corte-Real's  voyage  it  was  appropriate. 

Many  other  etymologies  have  been  suggested ;  but 
only  one  of  them  has  any  probable  ground.  Mr. 
Harrisse  mentions  a  manuscript  map  at  Wolfenbuttel, 
ascribed  to  A.  D.  1534,  which  bears  a  legend,  referred  to 
the  English  discovery  of  Labrador,  as  follows :  "  And  as 
the  one  who  first  gave  notice  of  it  was  a  labourer  of  the 
Azores  they  [the  English]  gave  it  the  name."  He  quotes, 
in  ronnection  with  this,  a  passage  in  the  manuscript 
"  Islario  "  of  Alonzo  de  Santa  Cruz.  "  It  was  called 
the  land  of  Labrador,  because  he  who  gave  notice  and  in- 
dication of  it  was  a  labourer  from  the  Azores  to  the  King 
of  England  when  he  sent  on  discovery  Anthony  Gabot 
[sic\,  an  English  pilot,  and  the  father  of  Sebastian 
Gabot,  at  present  Pilot-Major  of  your  Majesty."    To 


MYTHICAL  DISCOVERIES        69 

this  may  be  added  the  fact  recorded  in  the  English 
records  that,  on  March  19,  1501,  King  Henry  VII. 
granted  a  new  patent  of  discovery  and  exclusive  trade, 
covering  the  same  ground  as  that  of  John  Cabot,  to 
Richard  Warde,  Thomas  Ashehurst,  and  John  Thomas 
of  Bristol,  conjointly  with  Joao  Fernandez.  Francisco 
Fernandez,  and  Joao  Gonzales  of  the  Azores.  It  is  also 
recorded  that,  on  September  26,  1502,  a  pension  of  iio, 
during  pleasure,  was  granted  to  Francis  Fernandez  and 
John  Gonzales  for  services  relating  to  the  new  lands,  and 
the  Portuguese  writers  say  that  documents  in  a  law-suit 
exist  in  the  Azores,  to  the  effect  that  Joao  Fernandez, 
labourer,  of  Terceira,  went  away  in  company  with  Pedro 
de  Barcellos  "  to  discover  new  lands,"  and  was  away  for 
three  years,  and  on  his  return  found  his  property  occupied 
by  somebody  else. 

The  dates  of  these  documents  are  not  given;  but 
another  Portuguese  writer  states  that,  in  1491-92,  King 
John  of  Portugal  commissioned  Pedro  de  Barcellos  and 
Joao  Fernandez  Lavrador  to  discover  lands  to  the  north- 
west. If  they  had  found  anything  the  same  King  John 
would  have  known  it,  and  it  would  have  modified  his  dis- 
appointment at  the  success  of  Columbus.  He  could  not 
have  failed  to  have  put  in  an  effective  objection  to  the 
extensive  claims  of  Columbus  and  of  Spain.  All  the 
demarcation  negotiations  would  have  proceeded  upon 
other  lines.  The  advocates  of  the  Azorean  theory  differ 
as  to  whether  Lavrador  was  the  family  name  or  the  name 
of  the  business  of  this  discoverer.  The  name  Lavrador 
was  not  given  by  Corte-Real,  and  is  not  on  the  Cantino 
map.  It  appears  first  on  the  King  map  of  1502 — an  un- 
questioned Portuguese  map — and,  in  his  latest  book, 
"  Terre  Neuve,"  Mr.  Harrisse  conclusively  argues  that 
any  connection  of  any  English  voyage  with  the  name 
Labrador  must  be  rejected.  The  name  is  on  the  Oliver- 
iana  map  of  1503,  on  the  Maggiolo  map  of  151 1,  and, 
though  differing  in  location,  soon  became  established  on 
the  maps. 

The  natives  carried  off  by  Corte-Real  were  not  Esqui- 


70     THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

maux,  but,  from  the  descriptions  given  by  the  ItaHan 
letter  writers,  were  Algonquins  to  the  south,  or  Beothiks 
(commonly  called  Red  Indians)  of  Newfoundland. 
These  also  were  of  Algonquin  stock,  and  were  probably 
akin  to  the  Montagnais  of  the  mainland.  They  were 
mercilessly  slaughtered  during  the  two  following  cen- 
turies by  the  Europeans  of  all  nations,  who  resorted  to 
the  coasts  for  fish.  None  were  spared ;  men,  women, 
and  children  fared  alike.  The  Beothiks  retired  into  the 
wilderness  fastnesses  of  the  island,  where  they  could  live 
on  the  abundant  supply  of  game  and  fish.  Whenever 
they  were  seen  by  the  whites  they  were  shot.  For  two 
hundred  years  this  wretched  people  were  hunted  to  exter- 
mination, until,  too  late,  the  conscience  of  the  English 
was  aroused.  No  overtures  could  then  induce  the  scat- 
tered families  to  hold  any  communication  with  the 
whites,  whom  they  doubtless  regarded  as  perfidious  and 
malignant  beings.  Famine  and  disease  reduced  their 
numbers,  until,  some  time  in  the  year  1827,  the  remains 
of  the  last  family  were  found  at  Red  Indian  Lake  in  the 
centre  of  the  island.  They  died  without  making  any  sign 
for  assistance  to  the  white  people,  who  would  then  gladly 
have  done  anything  to  relieve  them.  In  1819  a  Beothik 
woman  was  captured  and  treated  with  great  kindness. 
She  was  taught  English,  and  called  Mary  March,  from 
the  month  of  her  capture.  Through  her,  attempts  were 
made  to  win  the  confidence  of  her  people,  but  she  died  of 
consumption  the  following  year,  A  miniature  portrait, 
drawn  by  the  wife  of  the  governor,  is  the  only  existing 
record  of  the  type  of  a  deeply  injured  race. 

Taking  all  the  evidence  together  it  would  seem  that  the 
theory  generally  accepted  is  the  true  one.  The  kid- 
napping of  these  poor  people  impressed  all  the  chron- 
iclers. 

The  name  Bacallaos,  applied  in  the  early  maps  to  New- 
foundland and  Acadia,  has  been  the  subject  of  very  keen 
controversy.  The  initial  difficulty  arose  from  a  sentence 
in  the  "  Decades  "  of  Peter  Martyr,  where  he  gives  an 
account  of  Sebastian  Cabot's  voyage.     He  says,  as  if 


MYTHICAL  DISCOVERIES        71 

reporting  Cabot's  statement :  "  Cabot  himself  named 
those  lands  Bacallaos,  because,  in  the  surrounding  sea, 
he  found  a  certain  kind  of  large  fishes  resembling  tun- 
nies, so-called  by  the  inhabitants,  in  such  great  multitudes 
that  they  sometimes  impeded  his  ships."  There  is 
nothing  said  about  Basques.  Lescarbot  imported  the 
Basques  into  the  question  a  hundred  years  later.  The 
passage  seems  to  state  that  Cabot  found  the  "  inhabit- 
ants "  using  the  word  bacallaos  for  a  fish  which  swarmed 
on  their  coasts,  and  named  the  land  from  the  word  found 
in  their  mouths.  Martyr,  apparently,  did  not  know  any- 
thing more  about  these  fishes  than  that  they  resembled 
tunnies  (tinnos — thynnos),  but  at  that  time,  and  long 
before,  the  common  people  of  Spain  called  the  codfish,  or 
haddock,  of  the  north  of  Europe  "  bacallaos," — the 
Romance  equivalent  of  the  Teutonic  "  stockfish."  It  is 
clear,  however,  that  the  word  is  pure  Spanish,  and  that 
the  equivalent  Romance  form  had  long  been  in  use 
throughout  the  south  of  Europe ;  such  a  statement,  if  really 
made  by  Cabot,  would  have  been  equal  to  the  admission 
that  Spaniards  had  been  there  before  him,  whereas  the 
whole  purport  of  the  communication  was  that  he  had 
been  the  first  discoverer  of  the  region.  Careful  con- 
sideration of  the  passage  will  suggest  that  what  Cabot 
really  said  was  that  these  swarming  fish  were  the  same 
as  those  which  were  used  as  food  by  the  peasants  of 
Spain,  and  called  by  them  bacallaos;  for  Cabot  was  then 
living  at  Seville,  and  doubtless  was  speaking  in  Spanish. 
Such  a  statement  would  tend  to  magnify  the  importance 
of  the  country  discovered.  Martyr  probably  misunder- 
stood, or  forgot,  the  bearing  of  the  word,  and  transferred 
to  the  people  of  Newfoundland  the  word  long  in  use  by 
the  country  people  of  Spain. 

Again,  we  know  that,  upon  the  first  voyage,  "  Cabot 
saw  no  man."  The  second  voyage  was  also  purely  an 
English  expedition,  commissioned  by  the  English  Crown, 
and  fitted  out  and  manned  by  Englishmen.  Cabot  was 
not  a  Spaniard,  but  a  resident  in  England,  and  it  is  im- 
possible he  would  have  given  a  Spanish  name  to  the 


72      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

country  he  discovered  for  the  King  of  England.  With 
far  greater  probability  Kohl  asserts  that  the  Portuguese 
gave  the  name;  for  it  is  first  found  on  Pedro  Reinel's 
map  (1505)  as  y  dos  Bocalhas,  in  Portuguese  form,  and 
in  Ruysch's  map  (1508)  it  appears  in  Latin  (insula 
Baccalaura's).  Cabot  did  not  go  to  Spain  until  1512.  after 
that  map  had  been  four  years  published.  He  was  in 
charge  of  the  official  maps  of  Spain,  and  what  he  may 
have  done  was  to  adopt  the  name  on  the  Spanish  maps 
because  it  was  characteristic  of  the  region. 

No  argument  or  claim  was  ever  put  forward  on  ac- 
count of  this  name  Bacallaos  until  Lescarbot,  in  his  "  His- 
tory of  New  France"  (1612),  sets  out  to  explain  the 
words  Canada  and  "  Bacalos."  As  to  the  first,  he  differs 
from  Cartier ;  and  is  hopelessly  wrong ;  and,  as  to  the  sec- 
ond, he  says  the  name  was  given  by  the  Basques  of  France 
(nos  Basques),  "  who  call  a  codfish  hccaillos."  He  adds 
that  the  Acadian  Indian  name  is  apege — it  is  now  pegoo 
in  Micmac,  evidently  the  same  word.  If  it  be  agreed 
that  the  Newfoundland  Indians  were  not  Micmacs,  the 
vocabularies  of  Mary  March  show  that  their  name  was 
bobboosorct,  and.  therefore,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  not 
true  that  the  Indian  name  was  bacallaos.  Lescarbot  is  a 
very  lively  writer,  and  must  not  be  taken  too  seriously, 
when  in  his  discursive  moods. 

The  word  bacallaos  is  a  Romance  word,  found  in  all 
the  Romance  languages  for  dried  codfish.  The  curing 
was  formerly  done  by  stretching  on  sticks  and,  in  the 
north  of  Europe,  stockfish  is  the  expressive  name ;  but 
the  Mediterranean  nations,  who  derive  their  languages 
from  the  Latin,  express  the  same  idea  in  derivative  forms 
of  the  classic  word  bacidum,  or  in  post-classical  use 
bacillus,  a  stick.  In  Portuguese  it  is  in  the  singular  num- 
ber bacalhao,  in  Spanish  bacallao,  in  Italian  baccala,  in 
French  bacaliau.  The  Basque  word  is  bacaillaba,  and  is 
evidently  a  derivative  from  the  Romance  word.  The 
Basques  did  not  impose  the  names  of  their  archaic  tongue 
upon  the  nations  around.  Their  name  for  oyster  is  the 
Spanish  ostra,  and  their  name  for  whale  is  the  Spanish 


MYTHICAL   DISCOVERIES        73 

halcna;  both  Romance  words.  Others  might  be  cited 
from  Basque  vocabularies,  but  these  are  sufficient  to  show 
that  bacaillaba  is  not  exceptional  in  its  derivation. 

No  sooner  were  the  northeastern  waters  of  America 
made  known  by  the  voyages  of  Cabot  and  Corte-Real 
than  Portuguese,  Spanish,  and  Breton  vessels  thronged 
there  for  the  cod  fishery ;  and  Basque  vessels  for  cod  fish- 
ing to  a  certain  extent,  and  later  for  whaling.  Nearly  a 
hundred  years  passed,  of  trading  and  fishing  along  the 
coast,  before  there  was  a  pennanent  settlement,  and  what- 
ever the  Indians  may  have  known  of  European  words 
could  easily  have  been  learned  then.  Father  Lallemant, 
in  the  Jesuit  Relations  for  1626,  as  already  observed,  says 
the  Acadian  Indians  call  the  sun  Jesus,  and  that  they 
learned  it  from  the  Basques.  If  so,  they  had  a  hundred 
years  to  learn  it  in  without  antedating  Columbus.  The 
same  remark  applies  to  Lescarbot's  extravagant  state- 
ment that  so  long  and  so  intimate  was  the  connection 
between  the  Basques  and  the  Indians  of  Newfoundland 
and  the  Gulf  shores,  that  the  language  of  the  latter  was 
half  Basque ;  and  this  expanded  by  another  writer  into  a 
statement  that  the  Indians  would  not  trade  in  any  other 
language. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  set  up  a  philological  con- 
nection between  the  Basque  and  the  American  languages, 
but  without  success.  After  a  long  examination  of  the 
question,  M.  Julien  \'"inson  recorded  his  conclusion  that  it 
is  abundantly  clear  that  no  real  relationship  exists  be- 
tween them.  The  Basque  belongs  to  the  agglutinative 
type,  and  so  do  the  American  languages,  but  so  also  do 
the  Japanese,  the  Manchu,  and  many  other  Asiatic 
groups.  The  subject  cannot  be  followed  further  in  the 
present  work.  If,  before  the  lost  continent  Atlantis  dis- 
appeared in  the  ocean,  the  Basques  were  the  chief  people 
of  western  Europe,  and  if  they  then  came  to  America  and 
founded  the  Huron-Iroquois  group  of  nations,  it  is  too 
long  ago  to  detract  from  the  fame  of  Cabot  or  Corte-Real 
or  Columbus.  It  is  a  speculation  of  dreamland,  and 
beyond  the  region  of  historical  geography. 


CHAPTER  VI 

PRIVATE    ADVENTURERS — CABOT    TO    CARTIER 

WITH  the  departure  of  the  expedition  of  1498, 
John  Cabot  and  two  of  his  sons — Lewis  and 
Sancius — disappear  from  English  history.  Se- 
bastian seems  to  have  remained  in  England, 
and  supported  himself,  as  Columbus  did  for  years,  by 
drawing  maps.  He  emerged  from  obscurity  again  in 
15 12,  when  he  was  employed  by  Henry  VHI.  to  draw  a 
map  of  Gascony  and  Guyenne,  to  be  used  for  a  campaign 
in  the  south  of  France,  projected  by  the  English  and 
Spanish  monarchs.  The  privileges  granted  to  the  Cabots 
were  annulled  by  letters  patent  to  others  dated  March  19, 
1501.  The  Cabot  grants  are  not  mentioned  by  name ;  but 
a  monopoly  is  granted  to  the  new  patentees  with  a  warn- 
ing to  all  other  subjects  of  the  King  not  to  disturb  them 
in  their  title  and  possession.  A  clause  was  added  in  the 
draft  extending  the  same  warning  specially  to  any  who 
might  interfere  with  them  under  colour  of  any  conces- 
sion to  any  foreigner  or  foreigners  made  previously 
under  the  great  seal.  This  clause  stands  on  the  record 
with  a  line  drawn  through  it  as  if  erased.  It  was  not 
necessary — the  Cabots  were  excluded  by  the  general 
grant  and  prohibition,  and  the  work  of  discovery  was 
continued  by  others. 

Although  a  few  of  the  more  enterprising  of  the  mer- 
chants of  Bristol  followed  up  the  voyages  to  the  "  new 
land,"  the  real  significance  of  Cabot's  discovery  was  only 
slowly  realised  by  the  English  nation.  This  is  not  sur- 
prising, because  the  English  had  at  that  time  a  large  and 
steady  trade  for  codfish  with  Iceland,  for  which  they  paid 
in  manufactured  goods.  English  vessels  carried  the 
dried  fish  to  all  the  continental  markets,  and  Bristol  was 

74 


CABOT  TO   CARTIER  75 

the  chief  emporium  of  a  trade  of  very  much  more  impor- 
tance then  than  it  afterwards  became,  for  all  Europe  was 
Roman  Catholic,  and  church  fasts  were  numerous  and 
better  observed.  Stockfish,  or  hacalao,  was  a  staple  food 
in  great  demand,  and  its  price  was  high;  nevertheless, 
those  who  ventured  their  stocks  of  "  caps,  laces,  points, 
and  other  trifles  "  in  Cabot's  voyage,  as  they  supposed 
to  the  rich  country  of  Cathay,  not  only  lost  their  money, 
but  could  see  no  prospect  for  a  new  outlet  for  English 
manufactures.  Gradually  it  dawned  upon  them  that  in 
the  seas  swarming  with  codfish,  not  very  much  farther 
off  than  Iceland,  they  had  treasures  richer  than  the 
Spanish  Indies.  The  west  of  England  people  took  up 
the  trade  and  undersold  the  Iceland  fish  so  that  the 
northern  trade  rapidly  decayed  in  proportion  as  the 
Newfoundland  trade  increased.  Difficulties  were  con- 
stantly arising  also  with  the  Danish  Government,  and 
the  English  fishermen  in  the  northern  seas  were  ham- 
pered by  foreign  imposts  and  regulations  from  which 
the  Newfoundland  fishing  fleet  was  free.  All  this  the 
English  people,  with  characteristic  slowness,  took  time 
to  realise. 

The  patent  of  March  19,  1501,  which  annulled  the 
Cabot  patents,  was  granted  to  Richard  Warde,  Thomas 
Ashehurst,  and  John  Thomas,  of  Bristol,  with  whom 
were  associated  Joao  Fernandez,  Francisco  Fernandez, 
and  Joao  Gonzales  of  the  Azores.  On  December  9, 
1502,  new  letters  patent  were  issued  to  some  of  the 
former  holders;  viz.,  to  Thomas  Ashehurst,  Joao  Fer- 
nandez, Francisco  Fernandez,  Joao  Gonzales,  and  Hugh 
Elliott,  granting  very  extensive  powers  and  a  monopoly 
for  forty  years.  Patents  cost  King  Henry  nothing,  and 
he  took  no  share  or  risk  himself.  All  expenses  were 
borne  by  the  patentees.  The  voyages  made  under  these 
grants  were  at  first  led  by  the  Portuguese ;  and  we 
know  at  least  of  one  voyage  under  the  patent  of  1502, 
for  Robert  Thorne  of  Seville,  writing  in  1527,  to  Dr. 
Leigh  (the  English  Ambassador),  says  that  his 
father  sailed  with  Hugh  Elliott.    Of  this  voyage  Robert 


76      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Thorne  says  that  "  if  the  mariners  would  then  have  been 
ruled  and  followed  their  pilot's  minde,  there  is  no  doubt 
but  the  lands  of  the  West  Indies,  from  whence  all  the 
golde  Cometh,  had  been  ours."  Other  voyages  were 
made,  for  there  is  an  entry  in  the  public  accounts,  "  to 
men  of  Bristol  that  founde  Th'isle  £5."  That  was  on 
January  7,  1502,  and  on  September  30,  of  the  same  year,: 
there  is  another,  "to  the  merchants  of  Bristol  that  havel 
been  in  the  Newe  founde  Launde,  £20."  There  is  an 
entry  the  following  year  (1503),  on  November  17,  "to- 
one  that  brought  hawkes  from  the  Newfounde  Island, 
£1."  The  following  spring  (April  8,  1504,)  a  payment 
was  made  "  to  a  preste  that  goeth  to  the  New  Islands, 
£2."  In  1505  (August  25)  is  another  entry  showing 
that  the  voyages  were  still  going  on,  "  to  Clays  going  to 
Richmond  with  wylde  catts  and  popyngays  of  the  New- 
found Island  for  his  costs  13/4,"  and  on  September  25 
the  men  who  brought  them  over  are  indicated — "  to  Port- 
zugales  that  brought  popyngais  and  catts  of  the  moun- 
taigne  and  other  stuf  to  the  Kinges  grace,  £5," 

It  has  been  supposed  by  a  few  writers  that  Sebastian 
Cabot  was  engaged  upon  some  of  these  voyages,  but 
there  is  no  real  ground  for  thinking  so.  All  the  ex- 
periences described  by  Martyr,  Ramusio,  Gomara,  and 
the  other  early  writers  are  fully  covered  by  the  two 
Cabot  voyages  in  1497  and  1498,  and,  in  fact,  the  impres- 
sion left  by  their  narratives  is  that  there  was  only  one 
voyage,  that  upon  which  ice  was  encountered.  Stress  is 
laid  upon  a  passage  in  Stow's  Chronicle  to  the  effect 
that  in  1502  three  men  taken  in  the  new-found  islands 
were  brought  to  the  King.  Hakluyt  twice  records  the 
incident,  first  in  his  "  Divers  Voyages,"  as  having  oc- 
curred in  1 501,  but  in  his  final  work,  "  Principall  Naviga- 
tions," he  changed  the  date,  and  assigned  the  capture  of 
the  men  to  the  year  in  which  William  Purchas  was 
Mayor,  and  to  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  King — that  is, 
to  the  year  1498-99.  Mr.  Harrisse  has  collated  these 
passages  most  convincingly,  and  if  Hakluyt's  authority 
be  accepted,  these  natives  must  have  been  brought  on 


CABOT  TO   CARTIER  77 

Cabot's  second  voyage.  If,  however,  anyone  should  in- 
cline to  accept  the  authority  of  Stow,  Mr.  Harrisse  demon- 
strates that  Cabot  was  not  upon  the  voyage  of  1502,  be- 
cause the  new  patent  granted  to  Warde  and  the  Portu- 
guese was  then  in  force,  and  he  puts  the  matter  beyond 
doubt  by  bringing  forward,  for  the  first  time,  a  document 
proving  that  on  September  25,  1502,  the  King  granted  a 
pension  of  £10  each,  yearly,  during  pleasure,  to  Francisco 
Fernandez  and  Joao  Gonzales,  "  in  consideration  of  the 
true  service  which  they  have  done  unto  us  to  our  singular 
pleasure  as  captaines  unto  the  newe  founde  lande."  It 
was  the  Azoreans  then  who  commanded  in  the  expedition 
under  the  patent,  and,  moreover,  as  these  same  Azoreans 
were  among  the  patentees  of  December,  1502,  for  a  mo- 
nopoly of  forty  years,  there  cannot  be  any  way  of  includ- 
ing Sabastian  Cabot  in  any  voyage  after  that  of  1498. 
That  he  was  upon  the  voyage  of  1498  we  may  be  assured 
quite  apart  from  his  own  statements,  since  Ferdinand  of 
Aragon  took  him  into  the  service  of  Spain  because  of  his 
personal  knowledge  of  Bacallaos. 

The  preceding  considerations  exclude  also  all  possi- 
bility of  an  expedition  in  1508,  despatched  by  King 
Henry  VII.,  and  commanded  by  Sebastian  Cabot.  The 
argument  for  this  rests  mainly  upon  a  manuscript  report 
made  by  Marcantonio  Contarini  to  the  Signiory  of  Venice 
in  1536,  twenty-seven  years  after  the  event.  King 
Henry  VII.  was  not  one  to  fit  out  at  his  own  cost  another 
expedition  of  discovery,  with  three  hundred  men,  and  if 
he  did  so,  there  would,  of  necessity,  be  some  trace  of  it 
in  the  public  records  or  accounts.  The  conclusion  of 
Kohl  must  be  accepted  as  correct,  "  that  there  is  nothing 
to  show  that  Sebastian  Cabot  entered  on  a  new  enterprise 
for  a  long  time ;  while  others,  stimulated  by  the  fame  of 
his  discoveries,  followed  his  track,"  or  rather,  let  us  add, 
his  father's  track. 

Following  up  the  traces  of  English  enterprise  on  the 
northern  coasts  of  America  we  come  to  an  incidental 
remark  of  Richard  Eden  that  Henry  VIII.  "  furnished 
and  sent  forth  certain  ships  under  the  governance  of 


78      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Sebastian  Cabot,  yet  living,  and  one  Sir  Thomas  Perte, 
whose  faint  heart  was  the  cause  that  voyage  took  none 
effect."  The  wording  is  pecuHar,  and  taken  with  the 
context,  it  conveys  the  idea  that,  whatever  expedition  is 
referred  to,  it  was  abortive  from  the  beginning  and  did 
not  actually  sail.  The  statement  is  repeated  by  later 
writers,  but  is  controverted  by  the  fact  that  at  the  time 
stated,  about  A.  D.  15 17,  Cabot  was  high  in  office  in 
Spain,  where  the  following  year  he  was  made  Grand 
Pilot.  This  is  the  voyage  in  which  he  is  reported  to  have 
reached  6yl°  N.,  "  where  he  found  the  sea  open,  on  June 
11";  and  recent  writers,  still  improving  on  that  im- 
possible feat,  make  him  enter  Hudson's  Strait  and  pass 
into  the  Bay  one  hundred  years  before  Hudson.  As  if 
that  were  not  enough,  he  is  made  by  some  to  pass  up  Fox 
Channel  to  67^°  until  Sir  Thomas  Pert's  faint  heart  failed 
him.  So  easy  is  it  to  sail  ships  on  library  globes,  where 
the  ice  does  not  show !  The  Canadian  Government  sent 
expeditions  into  the  Bay  in  1884  and  1887,  with  steam 
vessels  fitted  specially  for  Arctic  voyages  and  com- 
manded by  experienced  sailors.  It  was  a  month  later 
before  they  could  enter  the  strait.  The  best  commentary 
on  this  mythical  voyage  was  made  only  four  years  after, 
in  1 52 1,  when  the  Livery  Companies  of  London  protested 
against  being  assessed  for  a  voyage  to  the  west,  projected 
by  King  Henry  VHL  and  Cardinal  Wolsey,  to  be  con- 
ducted by  Sebastian  Cabot,  who  was  to  be  brought  from 
Spain.  They  protested  that  "  it  was  a  sore  risk  to 
jeopard  five  ships  with  men  and  goods,  trusting  to  one 
man,  called  as  we  understand,  Sebastyan,  who  as  we 
here  say,  was  never  in  that  land  hym  self,"  but  reports 
what  he  has  heard  his  father  and  others  say. 

But  all  the  while  the  west  of  England  fishermen  kept 
on  sailing  to  Newfoundland  in  increasing  numbers,  so 
that  in  A.  D.  1522  the  Vice- Admiral  Fitz  William 
thought  it  necessary  to  send  armed  ships  to  the  mouth  of 
the  channel  to  meet  the  returning  vessels  and  protect  them 
from  French  privateers.  The  competition  of  the  French 
and  Portuguese  forced  the  English  out  of  their  old  chan- 


CABOT  TO   CARTIER  79 

nels  of  trade  and  opened  their  eyes  to  the  abundant 
treasures  which  John  Cabot's  discovery  had  placed  at 
their  disposal.  Their  neglect  was  a  benefit  to  the  world, 
for  all  shared  in  the  exhaustless  new  food  supply. 

In  1527  King  Henry  VIII  sent  out  an  expedition,  con- 
sisting of  two  ships,  under  John  Rut.  He  was  an  officer 
of  the  incipient  Royal  Navy,  and  the  object  was  to  dis- 
cover the  regions  of  the  Grand  Khan  by  going  further  to 
the  west.  One  of  the  ships  was  wrecked  near  the  Straits 
of  Belle-Isle,  where,  in  lat.  53°  N.,  they  encountered 
"  many  great  islands  of  ice,"  and  durst  go  no  further. 
These  particulars  are  interesting,  because  53°  is  the  lati- 
tude, on  Labrador,  where  some  suppose  Cabot  to  have 
made  his  landfall  in  1497,  and  to  have  found  a  semi- 
tropical  climate  a  month  earlier  in  the  year.  The  other 
vessel,  the  Mary  of  Guilford,  then  turned  south  and 
visited,  on  August  3,  a  "  good  haven  in  Newfoundland, 
called  St.  John,  where  they  found  eleven  sails  of  Nor- 
mandy, one  of  Brittany  and  two  Portuguese  barks,  all  a 
fishing."  Rut  continued  on  to  the  south,  visiting  and 
landing  on  the  shores  of  Cape  Breton,  Nova  Scotia,  and 
New  England,  and  returning  to  England  in  the  beginning 
of  October.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  the  King  from  the  har- 
bour of  St.  John,  on  August  3,  and  sent  it  home  by  an 
English  ship.  It  has  been  preserved  by  Purchas,  and  is 
the  first  letter  on  record  sent  to  England  from  America. 
In  the  thirty-third  year  of  Hen-ry  VIII,  the  first  Act  of 
Parliament  was  passed  making  mention  of  Newfound- 
land, called  therein  "  Newland,"  and,  as  pointed  out  by 
Prowse,  it  is  also  the  first  English  statute  referring  to 
America. 

One  of  the  English  voyages  during  this  period  is  the 
oddest  on  record.  Master  Hore,  an  enthusiastic  gentle- 
man geographer,  persuaded  some  thirty  gentlemen, 
mostly  lawyers,  "  of  the  Innes  of  Court  and  of  the  Chan- 
eerie,"  to  get  up  an  expedition  for  discovery  in  the  west. 
They  sailed  in  1536,  and,  after  divers  interesting  observa- 
tions, the  provisions  they  brought  with  them  gave  out 
while  they  were  on  the  shores  of  Newfoundland.   Famine 


8o      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

grew  to  such  a  height  that  one  of  the  crew  killed  his  mate 
while  they  were  digging  for  roots.  This  being  dis- 
covered, the  captain  assembled  the  crew  and  made  "  a 
notable  oration,"  the  heads  of  which  Hakluyt  records  with 
much  approval,  pointing  out  the  wickedness  of  eating 
each  other,  and  exhorting  them  to  repentance  and  to 
prayer  for  relief.  The  famine  increased  and  they  agreed 
"  to  cast  lots  who  should  be  killed."  The  narrative  goes 
on,  "  and  such  was  the  mercie  of  God  that  the  same  night 
there  arrived  a  French  ship  in  that  port  well  furnished 
with  vittaile."  So  they  seized  the  French  ship  by  a  ruse, 
and,  changing  vessels,  returned  to  England.  These  pro- 
vidential Frenchmen  were  sailors,  and  had  come  out,  not 
for  geographic  study,  but  for  a  cargo  of  food,  and  did 
not  need  to  eat  each  other  on  a  coast  where  the  sea 
swarms  with  fish,  and  the  woods  abound  in  game ;  so  a 
few  months  afterwards  they  also  arrived  safely  home, 
and  made  a  claim  on  King  Henry  VIII.  for  damages, 
which  he  paid  up  liberally.  This  is  the  only  naval  ex- 
pedition managed  by  lawyers  to  be  found  in  the  records 
of  these  coasts,  and  their  experiences  and  rules  of  pro- 
cedure were  unique. 

This  entertaining  episode  leads  up  to  the  observation 
that  the  French,  and  especially  the  Bretons  and  Normans, 
recognised  the  value  of  the  fisheries  of  Newfoundland 
and  Acadia  before  the  English,  and  in  the  sixteenth 
century  exploited  them  to  a  far  greater  extent.  On  a 
Portuguese  chart  (1514-1520),  to  be  seen  at  Munich, 
Cape  Breton  is  laid  down  as  the  land  discovered  by  the 
Bretons,  and  on  Ribeiro's  Spanish  official  chart  the  same 
region  is  inscribed  "  land  of  the  Bretons."  Cape  Breton 
is  called  in  Ramusio  the  "  Cape  of  the  Bretons,"  because 
they  made  it  the  central  point  of  their  fishery  from  the 
earliest  period,  as  their  operations  extended  chiefly  along 
the  Acadian  coast  and  the  south  coast  of  Newfoundland. 
Indeed,  we  find  the  expanse  of  sea  marked  off  by  Cape 
Race  and  Cape  Canso  called,  by  Alonzo  de  Santa  Cruz, 
the  "  Bay  of  the  Bretons."  The  Bretons  of  St.  Malo  and 
the  Normans  of  Dieppe  were  on  the  coast  as  early  as 


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CABOT  TO   CARTIER  8i 

1504,  the  year  after  the  last  voyage  of  the  Corte-Reals. 
The  accounts  of  the  voyage  of  jean  Denys  of  Honfleur, 
in  1506,  and  of  Captain  Velasco,  often  quoted  from  Char- 
levoix, are,  says  that  historian,  so  confused  and  so  much 
mixed  up  with  fabulous  matter  as  to  be  very  doubtful. 
That  is  true  as  to  Velasco,  but  Ramusio  in  "  Discorso 
d'un  Gran'  Capitaine,"  refers  to  the  voyage  of  Denys, 
and  mentions  the  name  of  the  pilot  Gamart,  and  Harrisse 
found  a  MS.  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris  with  the 
following  direction :  "  Let  a  note  be  made  of  the  mark 
of  my  boats  and  barks  which  I  leave  in  Newfoundland 
in  the  haven  of  Jean  Denys  '  called  Rougenoust '  "  (the 
present  Renews).  The  voyage  in  1508  of  Thomas 
Aubert  in  the  ship  La  Pensee,  owned  by  Ango  of  Dieppe, 
is  well  authenticated.  He  attempted  to  found  a  colony 
in  Newfoundland,  but  it  was  unsuccessful.  Several 
voyages  seem  to  have  been  made,  and  Aubert  was  the 
first  French  captain  to  carry  natives  to  France.  It  is 
recorded  by  Eusebius  that  in  A.  D.  1509,  "  Seven  wild 
men  were  brought  from  that  island  (which  is  called  the 
New  Land)  to  Rouen  with  their  canoe,  clothing  and 
weapons."  The  story,  however,  that  Aubert  in  con- 
junction with  Verrazano  sailed  eighty  leagues  up  the  St. 
Lawrence  River  and  gave  it  that  name  has  no  foundation. 
There  are  many  incidental  notices  during  the  years 
intervening  between  1504  and  Cartier's  first  voyage 
which  show  that  a  large  and  increasing  fishery  was  car- 
ried on  in  the  new  lands  of  the  west  from  Breton  and 
Norman  ports.  The  most  striking  is  a  fact  recorded  by 
Navarrete  that,  in  A.  D.  151 1,  Queen  Joanna  of  Spam 
commissioned  Juan  de  Agramonte  to  go  on  a  voyage  to 
Bacallaos  "  to  discover  the  secret  of  that  country." 
Whether  he  really  sailed  or  not  is  not  known,  but  the 
fact  that  the  French  were  then  frequenting  the  coast  is 
established  by  instructions  given  him  to  engage  two 
pilots  for  Brittany  "  who  are  well  acquainted  with  those 
parts."  The  same  fact  is  established  by  the  readiness 
with  which  the  Emperor  Charles  in  1526  listened  to  the 
proposals   of   Nicholas   Don,   a   Breton   fisherman,   who 


82      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

"  had  come  upon  new  lands  to  the  south  of  Bacallaos." 
Herrera  records  the  conditions,  no  results  followed,  but 
the  general  admission  of  the  special  familiarity  of  the 
Breton  sailors  with  that  region  is  apparent. 

The  attempt  made  by  Baron  de  Lery  in  A.  D.  15 17 
does  not  rest  on  any  solid  basis,  and  it  seems  in  itself 
problematical.  Many  recent  histories  contain  reports 
of  such  an  expedition,  but  Charlevoix  simply  notices  it  as 
a  report  incidental  to  the  voyage  of  La  Roche  and  refers 
it  to  A.  D.  1508.  The  animals  found  on  the  island  in 
later  years  were  placed  there  by  the  Portuguese  about 
A.  D.  1553.  This  was  related  to  Edward  Haies  in  1563 
while  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert's  expedition  lay  in  St. 
John's  harbour  by  a  Portuguese  sailor  who  was  present 
when  it  was  done.  In  1523  a  Captain  Coo  made  prize 
of  a  Newfoundland  fishing  ship  of  Rouen,  laden  with  fish 
and  tackle,  and  in  that  year  five  vessels  from  La  Rochelle 
went  to  Newfoundland.  The  French  fishing  fleet  on  that 
coast  far  exceeded  that  of  the  English  and,  in  these 
early  years,  amounted  to  seventy  or  eighty  sail,  fitted 
out  in  all  the  chief  ports  in  the  north  of  France. 

The  Portuguese  were,  however,  for  a  long  time  the 
most  enterprising  in  developing  the  fisheries  of  the  New 
Land,  and  their  chief  field  of  action  was  on  the  east 
coast.  Representatives  of  the  Corte-Real  family  held 
the  hereditary  title  of  "  Governors  of  Terra  Nova,"  until 
the  direct  line  became  extinct.  It  has  been  shown  above 
that  the  first  English  voyages,  after  Cabot's  second 
expedition,  were  led  by  Portuguese  captains  from  the 
Azores.  Very  shortly  afterwards  a  company  was 
organised  by  the  merchants  of  Terceira  in  the  Azores 
and  Aveiro  and  Vianna  in  Portugal  for  carrying  on  the 
fishery  in  an  organised  manner  and  establishing  a  colony. 
The  business  grew  so  rapidly  that  in  1506  King  Emman- 
uel passed  an  edict  that  one-tenth  of  the  profits  of  the 
fishing  vessels  from  Newfoundland  trading  to  Vianna 
and  Aveiro  should  be  paid  to  the  Royal  Customs.  Noth- 
ing is  recorded  with  any  definiteness  concerning  these 
attempts  at  colonisation  and,  in  fact,  it  is  not  probable 


CABOT  TO   CARTIER  83 

that  they  went  beyond  the  erection  of  permanent  fishing 
stages  to  be  available  year  after  year  when  the  vessels 
went  back  in  the  spring.  Still  some  serious  efforts  must 
have  been  made,  and  there  are  traces  of  an  attempt  to 
colonise  Cape  Breton  from  Vianna  in  1525.  Niganis,  now 
Ingonish,  is  said  by  De  Laet  to  have  been  a  Portuguese 
settlement,  and  he  states  that  the  settlers  moved  away 
because  of  the  cold.  From  Aveiro  alone  sixty  vessels 
went  every  year  to  Newfoundland,  and  later,  in  1550, 
the  number  increased  to  150.  From  Mira,  a  town  near 
Aveiro,  or  from  the  River  Mira  in  the  south  of  Portugal. 
Mira  River  and  Mira  Bay  doubtless  received  their  names, 
showing  that  the  Portuguese  had  been  active  in  Cape 
Breton  at  one  time.  They  searched  out  the  east  coast 
of  Newfoundland  for  convenient  harbours,  and  explored 
the  coast  of  Labrador  in  the  track  of  Caspar  Corte- 
Real.  Many  names  on  the  east  coast,  such  as  Cape  Race 
(Raso)  the  flat  cape,  Cape  Spear  (Espera),  Cape  St. 
Francis  (San  Francisco),  Cape  Freels  (Frey  Luis),  Fogo 
Island,  Bonavista  (Boa  Vista),  Bonaventure  (Boa  Ven- 
tura), Bacallhao  Island,  Conception  Bay,  Carbonear 
(Cape  Carvoeiro),  Fermeuse  Harbour  (Fermoso),  still 
attest  their  presence  in  early  days. 

But  while  much  credit  must  be  conceded  to  the  Portu- 
guese explorers  and  fishermen  in  opening  up,  in 
conjunction  with  the  Breton  fishermen,  the  coasts  of 
Newfoundland  and  Acadia,  there  is  no  ground  for  sup- 
posing that  they  had  any  knowledge  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
River,  or  of  the  Gulf,  before  Cartier's  voyages.  They 
were  (after  the  Corte-Reals)  fishermen  visiting  the  coast 
annually  for  the  cod  fishery,  and  the  Atlantic  coasts  had 
all  the  fish  they  could  desire.  It  was  trade,  not 
knowledge,  they  were  interested  in,  and  although  the 
Gulf  also  abounded  in  fish,  the  Atlantic  coast  abounded 
yet  more.  The  maps  of  the  time  confirm  this  view. 
Stress  has  been  laid  upon  a  commission,  granted  A.  D. 
1 52 1,  to  Joao  Alvarez  Fagundez,  but  the  commission 
itself  is  the  best  answer  to  those  who  would  extend  it 
up  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.     The  grant  was  described 


84      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

from  the  point  where  the  Hne  of  demarcation  of  Torde- 
sillas  cut  the  coast  "  to  the  beginning  of  the  land  discov- 
ered by  the  Corte-Reals."  These  Hmits  were  never 
definite,  but  the  Hne  of  demarcation  was,  on  the  maps, 
laid  down  to  cut  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia.  Fagundez' 
grant  extended  then  from  St.  Pierre  on  the  south  coast 
of  Newfoundland  westwards,  including  Cape  Breton  and 
an  indefinite  part  of  Nova  Scotia.  It  included  the 
islands  along  the  coast,  most  of  which  are  known,  c.  g., 
St.  John,  off  the  point  of  Cape  Breton ;  St.  Pierre,  which 
still  retains  that  name ;  the  Archipelago  of  the  eleven 
thousand  virgins  laid  down  on  the  old  maps  as  in  For- 
tune Bay ;  St.  Cruz,  which  is  off  the  Nova  Scotia  coast 
in  all  the  old  maps,  and  St.  Ann's,  on  the  maps  of  that 
time  placed  off  the  south  coast  of  Newfoundland.  The 
Archipelago  of  St.  Pantaleon  may  be  either  of  the  groups 
on  the  same  coast,  now  known  as  the  Burgeo  and  the 
Ramea  Islands.  In  Wytfliet's  map  the  group  of  islands 
off  that  coast  are  called  the  Fagundez  Islands,  and 
Aguada  Bav  can  be  no  other  than  Fortune  Bay,  which 
is  distinguished  also  by  the  three  islands.  Great  and  Little 
Miquelon  and  St.  Pierre,  at  its  mouth.  The  map  of 
Lazaro  Luis  (1563)  on  inspection  refutes  the  theories 
attempted  to  be  built  upon  it.  The  configuration  of  the 
gulf  and  river  is  from  Cartier,  and  in  another  Portu- 
guese map  of  similar  type  (Homem's)  made  in  1558 
(five  years  later)  Cartier's  names  are  given. 

The  Spaniards  did  very  little  to  develop  the  northeast 
coast,  for  it  fell,  as  they  thought,  outside  the  Hmits  of 
their  sphere  of  influence ;  and,  moreover,  the  West 
Indies  and  Gulf  of  Mexico  occupied  all  their  attention. 
It  is  on  record  that  Ferdinand  sent  for  Juan  Dornelos  in 
A.  D.  1500  to  plan  an  expedition  which  it  is  supposed 
was  intended  to  find  out  what  Cabot  had  discovered. 
The  sequence  of  the  summons  is  not  known.  Later,  in 
15 II,  when  Queen  Joanna  commissioned  Juan  de  Agra- 
monte  to  prepare  an  expedition  to  the  New  Land,  he  was 
to  found  a  colony  there  without  infringing  on  the  terri- 
tory of  Portugal.     Only  subjects  of  the  Queen  (Castil- 


CABOT  TO   CARTIER  85 

ians)  were  to  be  taken,  excepting  the  two  Breton  pilots. 
Of  this  project  also  no  further  records  have  survived. 
The  subject  must,  however,  have  been  constantly  in  the 
minds  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  for  the  following  year 
King  Ferdinand  invited  Sebastian  Cabot  into  his  service, 
and  he  was  meditating  another  expedition  to  the  same 
region  when  he  died  in  A.  D.  1516.  Doubtless  there 
were  fishing  voyages  of  private  merchants  to  the  Banks, 
but  we  do  not  read  of  them,  and  the  next  attempt  of  the 
Government  was  not  made  until  A.  D.  1525,  by  the 
expedition  of  Stephen  Gomez.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
in  the  negotiations  for  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  in  1712  the 
claims  of  the  Spaniards  upon  the  fisheries  of  New- 
foundland were  based  upon  ancient  fishing  rights  of 
the  Guipuzcoans,  without  mention  of  any  other  part  of 
Spain. 

Compared  with  the  Bretons  and  Portuguese  the 
Spanish  Basques  (Guipuzcoans  and  Viscayans)  were 
late  comers  upon  the  coast,  and  that  is  borne  out  by  the 
testimony  of  the  Basques  themselves,  for  whenever  they 
pass  from  generalities  to  particulars,  their  dates  are 
later  than  Stephen  Gomez'  voyage.  A  memorial  in  a 
lawsuit  by  the  son  of  Martin  de  Echevete  claims  that  his 
father  was  the  first  Spaniard  to  go  to  Newfoundland, 
and  that  his  first  voyage  was  made  in  A.  D.  1545,  after 
which  he  made  twenty-eight  voyages  up  to  A.  D,  1599. 
Again  in  A.  D.  1561  in  a  suit  for  Church  dues,  in  St. 
Sebastian,  some  of  the  witnesses  were  very  old  men, 
and  they  testified  that  the  Newfoundland  fisheries  had 
been  resorted  to  for  only  a  few  years  before  that 
time  by  vessels  from  that  port,  the  chief  port  of  Gui- 
puzcoa.  This  confirms  the  memorial  of  Echevete. 
Others  put  the  date  back  to  A.  D.  1540,  but  said  that  the 
fisheries  were  discovered  in  1525,  which  was  the  year  of 
Gomez'  voyage.  In  1697  evidence  was  taken  at  St. 
Sabastian  concerning  the  assumption  by  the  French  of  a 
right  to  exclude  the  Spaniards  from  the  fisheries.  One 
of  the  witnesses,  a  Biscayan  captain,  said  that  he  had 
known  Echaide,  who  died  about  1650,  being  then  eighty 


86      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

years  old.  The  birth,  then,  of  this  sailor,  who  some  sup- 
pose to  have  anticipated  Columbus,  was  assigned  to  about 
A.  D.  1570  by  a  fellow  citizen  giving  his  testimony  in 
the  city  where  both  were  born.  These  two  are  the  only 
Basques  who  are  named  as  discoverers. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  VOYAGE  OF  VERRAZANO 

IT  seemed,  in  the  early  days  of  discovery,  a  very  irra- 
tional supposition  that  a  barrier  should  extend 
almost  from  pole  to  pole,  and  shut  off  Europe  from 
the  coveted  regions  of  the  Eastern  seas.  Only  by  de- 
grees did  the  truth  dawn  upon  the  minds  of  cosmogra- 
phers  and  only  with  reluctance  was  it  received  at  last. 
A  village,  now  a  suburb  of  Montreal,  still  bears  the  name 
"  Lachine,"  telling  of  belief,  as  late  as  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  in  a  waterway  across  Canada  to 
Cathay,  and  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  witnessed 
the  final  efforts  for  a  northwest  passage  thither.  West- 
ern civilisation,  chafing  under  so  unreasonable  a  limita- 
tion, is  at  last  cutting  for  itself  the  waterway  which 
Nature  denied;  but  for  long  years  the  old  sailors  made 
confident  search  up  and  down  the  opposing  coast  for  the 
hidden  secret.  The  belief  of  these  early  days  was  that 
the  land  they  constantly  encountered  consisted  of  islands, 
through  which  passages  must  exist,  and  therefore  we 
meet  constantly  the  expression  "  discovery  of  new 
islands  "  when  new  portions  of  what  we  now  know  to 
be  continental  land  were  reached  and  reported. 

Magellan  had  found  a  passage,  but  it  was  far  to  the 
south,  and  in  1526  Sebastian-  Cabot  sailed  ostensibly 
for  the  same  strait,  but  with  the  secret  intention  of 
searching  for  a  nearer  way.  Indeed  it  has  been  con- 
jectured with  much  plausibility  that  he  had  instructions 
from  the  Emperor  so  to  do,  and  in  that  way  they  account 
for  the  remarkable  fact  that,  although  the  expedition 
grievously  miscarried,  Cabot  never  lost  the  favour  of 
the  Emperor  during  the  vexatious  litigation  which 
ensued.      In  truth  Sebastian  Cabot  was  a  better  courtier 

87 


88      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

than  sailor,  and,  when  the  captains  under  his  command 
remonstrated  that  his  course  was  too  far  to  the  west,  he 
replied  that  he  had  a  secret  understandino^  with  the 
Emperor  about  the  course  to  be  followed.  For  a  while 
he  thought  he  had  found  the  long-sought  passage  in  the 
La  Plata  River,  and  on  the  maps  based  on  his  report  the 
width  of  that  river  is  enormously  exaggerated. 

As  has  been  shown,  French  vessels  from  the  ports  of 
Normandy  and  Brittany  had  frequented  the  coasts  of 
Newfoundland  and  Acadia  since  1504.  Unconcerned 
with  the  Italian  wars  which  absorbed  the  attentions  and 
energies  of  the  King  and  court  of  France,  the  merchants 
pursued  their  own  course  in  developing  the  oversea 
fisheries.  In  A.  D.  1515  Francis  I.  succeeded  to  the 
throne,  and  his  marriage  with  Claude,  the  heiress  of 
Bretagne,  united  that  hitherto  independent  duchy  to  the 
crown  of  France.  The  formal  union  did  not  take  place 
until  A.  D.  1532,  and  it  was  long  before  a  common 
national  sentiment  welded  the  Breton  duchy  with  the 
rest  of  the  kingdom.  Francis  was  a  great  patron  of 
science  and  letters.  A  prince  of  his  intelligence  would 
in  any  event  have  felt  the  stimulus  of  the  discoveries  of 
the  Spaniards  in  the  New  World ;  but  a  bitter  rivalry 
with  Charles  V.,  who  had  competed  successfully  against 
him  for  the  Imperial  crown  in  A.  D.  15 19,  brought  on  a 
struggle  which  lasted  during  his  whole  life,  and  the 
world  beyond  the  ocean  which  was  infusing  new  energy 
into  his  rival's  kingdom  excited  his  jealousy.  What  the 
Bretons  and  Normans  had  been  doing  in  the  West  since 
1504  had  attracted  no  notice  at  the  royal  court.  There 
was  little  in  common  between  the  brave  and  serious 
mariners  and  the  equally  brave  but  frivolous  soldiers 
who  thronged  the  court  of  the  French  king  and  poured 
out  their  life-blood  like  water  upon  the   Italian  plains. 

It  is  necessary  in  treating  of  these  times  to  remember 
that  there  were  then  no  royal  or  national  navies.  Henry 
VII.  of  England  made  a  beginning  by  building  a  large 
royal  ship,  but  it  was  Henry  VHI.  who  later  instituted 
the  Admiralty  and  royal  dockyards  and  commenced  to 


VOYAGE   OF  VERRAZANO        89 

make  a  distinct  naval  service.  It  was  the  same  in 
France.  The  king  had  a  few  galleys  and  two  or  three 
large  ships,  and  he  was  urged  by  some  of  his  coun- 
cillors to  found  a  "  sea  army."  Whenever  vessels  were 
wanted  the  king  had  to  impress  them  from  the  merchants 
who  owned  them,  in  Dieppe,  or  Harfleur,  Rochelle,  St. 
Malo,  or  some  other  port.  The  words  annateur,  pri- 
vateer, corsair,  rover,  when  there  were  no  public  armed 
ships  and  no  permanent  naval  service,  connoted  a  very 
different  group  of  ideas  from  that  which  they  suggest 
at  the  present  day.  They  were  the  only  sea  forces  of 
their  respective  monarchs  and  they  were  countenanced, 
if  not  commissioned,  by  public  authority ;  but,  being 
volunteers,  they  paid  for  their  own  armament,  and  reim- 
bursed themselves  out  of  the  commerce  of  the  enemies 
of  the  state.  The  archives  of  Dieppe  and  Rochelle  were 
destroyed  in  the  bombardments  which  befell  those  cities, 
but  it  is  on  record  that  Jean  Ango,  a  merchant  prince  of 
Dieppe,  ravaged  the  Portuguese  coast  and  blockaded 
Lisbon  with  his  own  ships  alone.  In  the  succeeding 
reign  of  Henry  II.  in  1555  the  King  ordered  the  Admiral 
Coligny  to  punish  some  outrages  on  French  commerce 
by  Flemish  ships.  It  was  done  by  a  fleet  of  fishing  ships 
of  Dieppe.  They  chose  their  own  captains  and  attacked 
and  destroyed  the  Flemish  fleet.  There  was  no  royal 
fleet  to  call  upon  and  these  fishermen  were  a  volunteer 
sea  army. 

War  broke  out  between  Francis  I.  and  Charles  V.  in 
A.  D.  1 52 1,  and  we  learn  from  Herrera  that  French 
corsairs  were  pillaging  the  ships  from  India,  as  they 
arrived  at  the  coast  of  Spain,  until  a  squadron  was 
raised  by  a  levy  upon  the  merchants  to  repel  them. 
Similar  harassing  attacks  continued  in  the  following 
year,  and  the  vessels  returning  from  the  West  Indies 
had  to  wait  at  the  Azores  for  a  convoy.  In  1523 
Herrera  chronicles  the  loss  of  the  treasure  ships  sent  by 
Cortez  from  Mexico  to  Charles  V.  It  was  a  severe 
blow.  The  attack  was  made  only  ten  leagues  from  Cape 
St.  Vincent  and  only  one  Spanish  ship  escaped.     The 


90      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

French  fleet  consisted  of  six  ships  of  La  Rochelle,  and 
thither  they  conducted  their  prizes  and  prisoners.  The 
name  of  the  commander  is  recorded  as  "  Florin  de  La 
Rochelle."  It  is  surprising  that  in  the  very  same  "  Decade 
III."  Herrera  relates  at  length  the  voyage  of  discovery 
made  in  A,  D.  1524,  by  Juan  Verrazano  in  the  service 
of  France,  without  the  least  suspicion  that  he  and  Juan 
Florin  or  Florentin  were  the  same  person.  No  one 
thought  of  that  for  nearly  two  hundred  years,  until  in 
1723  Barcia  said  so.  Then  was  a  legitimate  opportunity 
oflFered  for  a  little  of  the  superabundant  scepticism  which 
has  characterised  recent  American  history,  but  strangely 
enough,  the  identification  has  been  very  generally 
accepted. 

Francis,  says  Herrera,  persuaded  by  some  of  his  sub- 
jects to  follow  the  example  of  Charles  V.,  for  whom 
every  day  new  lands  were  being  discovered,  resolved  to 
send  out  a  French  expedition  to  those  western  lands 
which  he  thought  "  God  had  not  created  for  Castilians 
solely."  To  this  he  was  the  more  easily  persuaded 
because  the  cosmographers  of  all  nations  believed  there 
was  a  passage  yet  to  be  discovered,  leading  from  the 
North  Atlantic  to  the  southern  ocean  of  fabulous  riches. 
Juan  Verrazano  (Giovanni  da  Verrazano),  a  Florentine 
of  good  family,  was  chosen  as  leader.  He  had  been  in 
the  East  Indies  in  15 17  and  had  resided  at  Cairo  and  in 
Syria.  He  is  also  said,  with  less  certainty,  to  have 
been  on  the  Newfoundland  coast  in  command  of  a  ship 
with  Aubert  of  Dieppe  in  A.  D.  1508.  It  may  well  be 
surmised  that  upon  the  outbreak  of  the  war  with  Charles 
V.  an  enterprising  sailor  in  a  seaport  like  Dieppe,  dom- 
inated by  such  men  as  Jean  Ango,  should  have  taken  up 
the  career  of  corsair,  or  as  we  now  say,  privateer,  and  in 
that  way  he  may  have  recommended  himself  to  the 
King;  but  however  that  may  have  been,  we  meet  with 
him  tirst  in  a  letter  preserved  by  Ramusio,  dated  at  Dieppe 
July  8,  1524,  immediately  after  his  return,  and  addressed 
to  King  Francis  I.  At  that  particular  juncture  the  King 
was  not  in  a  position  to  entertain  questions  of  cosmog- 


VOYAGE   OF  VERRAZANO        91 

raphy.  The  defection  of  the  Constable  of  Bourbon 
had  developed  into  an  invasion  of  France,  and  on  July 
7,  the  day  prior  to  the  date  of  Verrazano's  letter,  Bour- 
bon at  the  head  of  an  army  had  entered  Provence  and 
was  pressing  on  to  the  siege  of  Marseilles.  Francis 
was  assembling  an  army  and  hurrying  to  the  south,  in 
defence  of  his  kingdom.  It  is  not  surprising  if  the 
original  of  Verrazano's  letter  is  not  now  to  be  found  in 
the  public  records,  and  the  absence  of  it  is  very  slight 
ground  upon  which  to  base  a  charge  of  fraud.  It  is 
surprising  how  ready  in  recent  years  authors  have  been 
to  charge  deliberate  fraud  against  collectors  and  com- 
pilers like  Ramusio  and  Hakluyt,  who  could  have  had  no 
motive  but  a  simple  desire  for  truth.  Credulous  they 
may  have  been,  in  believing  reports  of  mariners,  and 
ignorant  they  were,  of  necessity,  about  much  that  we 
have  learned ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  impugn  their 
good  faith.  Nothing  but  a  real  love  for  their  subject 
could  have  stimulated  them  to  such  literary  labour. 

Verrazano's  letter  appears  first  in  Ramusio's  collection 
of  voyages,  published  at  Venice  in  1556.  From  thence 
it  was  translated  by  Hakluyt  and  published  in  his 
"  Divers  Voyages  "  in  1582.  Another  copy  of  the  let- 
ter, known  in  1767  to  be  in  existence,  was  found  and 
first  printed  in  1841.  These  two  copies  agree  in  sub- 
stance, but  in  phraseology  they  differ  so  much  that 
they  could  not  have  been  copied  one  from  the  other. 
The  two  versions  are  like  the  evidence  of  two  witnesses 
who  have  never  met  and  who  testify  to  the  same  facts 
in  different  language.  They  are  translations  into  Italian 
made  separately  from  a  French  original.  That  there 
was  a  French  original  Dr.  Da  Costa  proves  by  many 
arguments,  and  especially  by  an  extract  from  Pinello,  a 
Spanish  writer  in  1627 ;  and  the  late  Abbe  Verrau  of 
Montreal,  when  searching  the  French  archives  for  the 
Canadian  Government,  reports  an  incidental  statement 
found  in  a  manuscript  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  at 
Paris  "  that  the  Memoir  of  Verrazano  was  in  the  pos- 
session of  Chatillon."     The  person  intended  was  doubt- 


92      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

less  the  Marechal  de  Chatillon,  a  most  important  noble- 
man of  that  day,  a  favourite  of  the  Kin^^  and  of  the 
Queen  Louise  (sometime  Regent),  and  father  of  the  cele- 
brated Admiral  Coligny  of  after  fame. 

The  debt  that  European  literature  and  science  owe  to 
Italy  is  nowhere  more  apparent  than  in  the  early  history 
of  America.  Columbus,  Vespucci.  Cabot,  and  Verra- 
zano  gave  to  Spain,  England,  and  France  their  primary 
claims  upon  the  western  continent,  and  the  Italian  letter- 
writers,  Soncino,  the  two  Pasqualigos,  Cantino,  and 
others  have  preserved  memories  of  deeds  forgotten  in  the 
countries  which  reaped  the  benefit  of  the  services  of  their 
countrymen.  The  second  version  of  Verrazano's  report 
is  found  in  a  letter  from  one  Fernando  Carli,  at  Lyons, 
addressed  to  his  father  in  Florence,  bearing  on  its  face 
evidence  of  its  genuineness  in  its  omissions  as  well  as 
its  allusions — a  most  unaffected  and  natural  letter. 

Although  the  major  part  of  Verrazano's  voyage  lay 
along  the  shores  of  the  present  United  States,  it  included 
also  the  coasts  of  Acadia  and  southern  Newfoundland, 
and  is  furthermore  within  the  scope  of  the  present 
volume  because  upon  it  the  French  kings  based  a  primary 
claim  to  New  France  in  all  its  extent.  The  expedition 
had  been  some  time  in  preparation,  for  we  learn,  by  a 
letter  of  the  Portuguese  ambassador  to  France  to  his 
master  King  John  III.,  that  on  the  25th  of  April,  1523, 
Verrazano  was  "  going  on  the  discovery  of  Cathay  but 
had  not  then  left  for  want  of  opportunity  and  because  of 
dififerences  with  his  men."  The  ships  were  watched  in 
the  interests  of  Portuguese  merchants,  who  feared  that 
they  were  going  to  Brazil,  and  we  may  therefore  be  sure 
that  the  matter  was  not  done  in  a  corner.  From  Ver- 
razano's letter  we  learn  that  four  ships  sailed  and  that 
they  were  scattered  by  bad  weather.  Two — the  Nor- 
mandie  and  the  Danphinc — were  driven  back  to  Brittany 
in  distress.  These  he  refitted  and  started,  first  on  a  cruise 
along  tlie  coast  of  Spain,  which  lay  right  in  his  track.  He 
went  on  to  Madeira,  and,  changing  his  original  plan,  he 
continued   his   voyage   with   one,   the  Dauphine,  alone. 


VOYAGE   OF  VERRAZANO        93 

What  became  of  the  other  ships  he  nowhere  says.  He 
took  his  final  departure  on  January  17,  1524,  from  the 
Desertas — two  desolate  rocky  islands  near  Madeira, 
occupied,  even  now,  by  only  a  few  hundred  fishermen. 
This  locality,  he  says,  is  on  the  extreme  verge  of  the 
West.  It  is  in  fact  almost  exactly  on  the  prime  meridian 
of  these  days,  and  in  lat.  32°  N.  From  thence,  after  the 
custom  of  the  early  sailors,  he  struck  due  -west  on  the 
same  parallel  across  the  ocean.  He  sailed  west  for 
twenty-five  days,  when  he  encountered  a  hurricane ;  then 
inclining  to  the  north  he  sailed  on  for  twenty-four  days 
until  he  found  land  in  lat.  34°,  which  is  close  to  Cape 
Fear  in  North  Carolina. 

The  description  which  Verrazano  gives  of  the  coast 
and  the  incidents  of  his  coasting  do  not  fall  within  the 
plan  of  this  volume.  Of  the  two  able  writers  who  have 
denied  the  reality  of  this  voyage  one  finds  it  incredible 
because  the  description  is  so  inaccurate  and  the  other 
because  it  is  so  accurate ;  both  circumstances  being 
equally  held  to  prove  that  the  writer  of  the  letter  appro- 
priated the  results  of  Stephen  Gomez'  voyage  of  the  fol- 
lowing year.  After  a  short  excursion  to  the  south, 
Verrazano  sailed  northward.  Those  who  have  followed 
his  course  trace  it  to  Raleigh,  N.  C,  New  York,  Block 
Island,  Newport,  and  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  He  continued 
to  the  east  without  again  landing,  along  the  coast  of 
Maine,  Nova  Scotia,  Cape  Breton,  and  the  south  and  east 
coast  of  Newfoundland,  to  the  latitude  of  50°  N,  "  Be- 
yond that  point,"  he  says,  "  the  Portuguese  had  already 
sailed  as  far  as  the  Arctic  Circle  without  coming  to  the 
termination  of  the  land."  He  had  touched  the  Spanish 
explorations  on  the  south  and  the  Portuguese  on  the 
north,  without  finding  the  opening  to  Cathay  he  was  in 
search  of.  At  50°  N.  he  was  in  the  latitude  of  Dieppe,  to 
which  he  directly  sailed,  and  arrived  there  on  July  8, 

1524- 

The  copy  of  Verrazano's  letter,  sent  by  Carli  to  his 
father,  had  appended  to  it  "  a  cosmographical  exposi- 
tion "  in  which  Verrazano  sets  forth,  in  some  detail,  his 


94      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

distances,  latitudes,  and  longitudes.  These  are  of  little 
value.  The  distances  are  too  great,  for  they  were  cal- 
culated only  by  dead  reckoning,  and  must  have  included 
the  deviations  necessary  in  a  voyage  close  along  shore. 
Again  his  longitudes  are  hopelessly  out  of  the  way, 
among  other  reasons,  from  the  fact  that  he  used 
Ptolemy's  datum  of  62^  Italian  miles,  instead  of  seventy- 
five  (sixty  nautical  miles),  to  a  degree,  as  is  really  the 
case.  With  these  data  he  concludes  that  he  sailed  90 
degrees  westward  to  his  landfall ;  whereas,  taking  the 
Desertas  as  0°,  the  distance  to  Cape  Fear  is  only  (in 
round  numbers),  sixty-one  degrees.  Scepticism  con- 
cerning this  voyage  is  singularly  unjustifiable,  seeing 
that  there  could  be  no  motive  for  forgery.  The  only 
country  to  be  benefited  was  France,  and  it  is  not  upon 
French,  but  upon  Italian  records  that  the  narrative  rests. 
The  only  city  which  might  gain  some  credit  is  Florence, 
and  the  first  printed  account  is  by  the  Venetian  Ramusio, 
and  he  not  only  prints  the  letter,  but  supports  it  by  his 
own  opinion,  and  the  testimony  of  "  the  Gran'  Capitaine 
of  Dieppe,"  that  Verrazano  was  the  discoverer  of  Norum- 
begue,  in  his  work,  only  fifteen  years  after  the  event. 
The  letter  is  inserted  in  his  "  Decades,"  by  Herrera,  a 
Spaniard,  and  by  Hakluyt,  an  Englishman,  in  his 
"  Divers  Voyages,"  "  Principall  Navigations,"  and 
"Western  Planting."  It  is  accepted  by  Ribaut  (1562), 
Laudonniere  (1564-65),  Belleforest  (1570),  and,  gener- 
ally, by  all  writers  until  1864,  when  Mr.  Buckingham 
Smith  raised  objections. 

The  voyage  of  Verrazano  is  recorded  also  upon  some 
authentic  and  important  maps ;  notably  upon  a  large 
world  map  in  the  Collegio  de  Propaganda  Fide  at 
Rome,  made  by  "  Hieronimus  de  Verrazano"  (a  brother 
of  the  navigator),  in  1529.  In  it  all  the  region  from  the 
Carolinas  to  Cape  l»reton,  inclusive,  is  inscribed  "  Nova 
Gallia  sivc  lucatanet,"  and  marked  with  French  flags;  the 
region  about  what  is  now  known  as  Cabot  Strait,  in  Nova 
Scotia,  is  marked  by  the  shield  and  ermines  of  the  duchy 
of   Bretagne.     There   is   also  a    legend   in    Italian   that 


VOYAGE   OF  VERRAZANO        95 

"  Verrazana  or  New  France,  was  discovered  by 
Giovanni  de  Verrazano,  the  Florentine,  by  order  of  the 
most  Christian  King  of  France."  In  a  map,  by  Vesconte 
di  Maggiolo,  dated  1527,  the  same  region  is  inscribed 
"  Francesca,"  and  on  the  Ulpius  globe,  dated  1542,  also 
is  the  inscription  "  Verrazana  or  New  France  discov- 
ered by  Verrazano,  the  Florentine,  in  15 — ."  In  Hak- 
luyt's  "  Divers  Voyages  "  is  what  is  known  as  Lok's  map, 
upon  which  are  shown  the  geographical  features  of  the 
preceding  maps,  including  what  is  called  the  Sea  of  Ver- 
razano. It  is  made,  Hakluyt  says,  after  the  "  plat  of  Ver- 
razano," and  he  refers  to  a  "  mighty  large  olde  map 
in  the  custody  of  Mr.  Richard  Locke,"  and  to  "  an  olde 
excellent  globe  in  the  Queen's  private  gallery  at  West- 
minster," both  by  Verrazano.  These  two  last  have  dis- 
appeared. They,  and  all  maps  influenced  by  Verrazano's 
voyage,  show  a  little  neck  of  land  at  about  lat.  40°  N., 
separating  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  Great  South  Sea 
like  another  isthmus  of  Darien.  This  "  Sea  of  Ver- 
razano "  came  close  to  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  dwelt  long 
in  the  imaginations  of  the  French  geographers.  Cartier, 
Champlain,  and  the  voyageur  explorers  of  Canada,  in 
after  years,  wondered  over  each  great  river  they  came 
upon  whether  it  discharged  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  or 
into  the  Great  South  Sea. 

There  was  slight  leisure  for  cosmography  in  France 
when  Verrazano  returned.  Francis  was  off  to  the  Italian 
wars,  and  in  the  following  February  (1525),  he  was  de- 
feated at  Pavia,  and  carried  captive  to  Spain.  He  did 
not  regain  his  liberty  until  March,  1526.  How  Ver- 
razano was  occupied  in  the  meantime  does  not  appear, 
but  we  next  find  him  in  an  enterprise,  jointly  with 
Philippe  Chabot  de  Brion,  Admiral  of  France,  Guillaume 
Preudhomme,  "  General "  of  Normandy,  Jean  Ango  of 
Dieppe,  and  several  others,  to  fit  out  an  expedition,  under 
the  command  of  Verrazano,  to  the  East  Indies,  for  spices. 
The  shares,  both  of  the  profits  of  trade,  and  of  any  prizes 
from  the  enemies  of  the  Faith,  and  of  the  King,  were 
fully  specified.     Some  have  written  as  if  Verrazano  was 


96      THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

a  pirate,  but  this  was  legitimate  warfare  at  sea  in  those 
days.  All  property  of  enemies  of  the  King  was  fair 
prize,  and  modern  distinctions  of  contraband  of  war  were 
unknown.  He  sailed  after  May  ii,  1526,  for  on  that 
date  Verrazano  gave  a  power  of  attorney  to  his  brother 
Jerome  (the  maker  of  the  map),  to  act  for  him  in  his 
absence.  That  is  the  last  record — he  thenceforth  disap- 
pears ;  but  the  imagination  of  subsequent  writers  has  not 
been  content,  save  with  a  tragical  ending.  Ramusio 
states  that  he  went  on  another  voyage  to  America,  and 
was  killed  and  eaten  by  Indians.  Biddle  combines  this 
with  Rut's  voyage  in  1527,  and  identifies  him  with  the 
Piedmontese  pilot  who  was  killed  in  Norumbega,  but 
there  was  an  Italian,  Albert  de  Prato,  known  to  have 
been  with  Rut,  and.  therefore,  there  is  no  need  of  draw- 
ing upon  Verrazano.  who  would,  moreover,  not  be  likely 
to  have  gone  as  subordinate  in  such  an  expedition.  In 
1723  Barcia  ("  Ensayo  Chronologico ")  identified  him 
with  Juan  Florin  or  Florentin.  the  corsair,  who  had  cap- 
tured the  treasure  ships  of  Cortez.  This  Juan  Florin  was 
certainly  hanged  as  a  pirate,  in  October,  1527.  at  Colmenar 
de  Arenas  in  Spain,  for  that  we  have  the  evidence  of  the 
judge  who  condemned  him,  but  who  had  no  suspicion 
that  he  was  hanging  Juan  Varrazano  for  deeds  done 
when  a  captain  in  the  service  of  France. 

Charlevoix  thinks  he  made  another  voyage,  attempted 
to  found  a  colony,  and  was  killed  in  1525,  while  building 
a  fort.  With  such  a  variety  of  tragedies  to  choose  from 
no  reader  can  be  at  a  loss.  None  of  them  have  any  real 
foundation,  though  the  majority  of  writers,  since  Barcia, 
state  that  he  was  hanged  by  the  Spaniards.  It  is,  how- 
ever, certain  that  the  hanging  of  Florin  was  done  in 
October,  1527.  The  following  extract  shows  that  Ver- 
razano was  alive  in  Paris  on  December  24,  1527.  It  is 
from  a  letter  to  Joao  III.,  King  of  Portugal,  written  by 
his  ambassador  at  Paris:  "As  it  may  happen  that  the 
letters  I  am  sending  to  Your  Majesty,  by  this  bearer, 
may  not  reach  their  destination,  he  takes  with  him  this 
one  in  a  more  secret  manner,  so  that  Your  Majesty  be 


VOYAGE  OF  VERRAZANO        97 

acquainted  with  their  substance;  id  est,  that  Master 
Giovanni  Verrazano  is  to  leave  from  here  with  five  battle 
ships,  which  he  had  been  ordered  by  the  Admiral  to  take 
to  a  large  river  on  the  coast  of  Brazil,  which  river  is  said 
to  have  been  discovered  by  a  Castilian.  I  have  made 
many  inquiries  about  this  matter,  and  asked  full  partic- 
ulars in  writing,  but  so  far  the  answer  has  been  verbal 
only,  that  the  Admiral,  and  the  said  Verrazano,  are 
to  leave  in  February  or  March.  I  think  the  river,  above 
referred  to,  is  the  same  as  discovered  by  Christovao 
Jacques.  It  would  seem  to  me  they  will  establish  a  basis 
of  operation,  and  then  proceed  further  up  the  river," 
etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

This  letter  was  discovered  in  the  archives  of  the  Torre 
do  Tombo,  and  has  been  published  in  the  Memorie  della 
Societa  Geografica,  Roma,  1897.  It  is  evident,  therefore, 
that  Verrazano  and  Florin  were  different  persons.  From 
Hakluyt  we  learn  that  Verrazano  had  some  communica- 
tion with  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  probably  after  his 
return  from  the  voyage  of  1524,  while  Francis  was  a 
prisoner  and  France  was  in  consternation.  As  to  his 
ultimate  fate  the  statement  of  Ramusio  is  most  likely  to 
be  right,  that  he  went  on  another  expedition  to  America, 
and  was  killed.  It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  defend 
the  Indians  of  North  America  from  the  charge  of  eating 
him,  because  the  circumstance,  whatever  it  was,  occurred 
on  the  coast  of  South  America. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  VOYAGE  OF  STEPHEN   GOMEZ 

THE  voyage  of  Stephen  Gomez  is  of  great  interest 
because  it  was  one  of  serious,  leisurely  explora- 
tion, and,  while  that  part  of  the  coast  first,  in 
the  strictest  sense,  discovered  by  him  was  a 
region  of  the  United  States  coast,  yet  it  is  certain  that  he 
visited  and  examined  the  Atlantic  coast  of  British 
America,  with  more  diligence  than  Verrazano,  and 
reported  upon  it  more  fully  than  any  explorer  until 
Champlain.  His  original  report  has  not  come  down  to 
us,  but  the  results  of  the  voyage  are  embodied  in  later 
documents.  Hitherto  these  have  not  yielded  as  much 
information  as  might  have  been  expected;  perhaps 
because  the  learned  and  careful  scholars  who  have 
studied  them  had  not  that  familiarity  with  the  coast  and 
localities  described,  which  is  of  so  great  value  in 
doubtful  questions.  Every  sea  and  every  coast  has  its 
particular  physical  characteristics,  and  statements  which 
appear  re"asonable  to  a  student  of  books  and  charts 
in  a  distant  country  are  often  felt  by  a  native  of  the 
locality  in  question  to  be  incredible  or  impossible.  To 
one  familiar  with  the  region  under  debate,  the  whole 
scene  rises  vividly  before  the  mind,  associated  with  at- 
tendant circumstances  of  pleasure  or  adventure,  and  to 
any  such  a  person  it  will  become  certain  that  Stephen 
Gomez  really  sailed  along  the  coast  of  British  America, 
and  saw  the  places  he  described. 

Much  unnecessary  discussion  has  been  caused  by  the 
loose  use  of  the  word  "  discover  "  by  early  writers.  At 
the  present  day  the  phrase  "  first  discover  "  seems  tauto- 
logical ;  not  so,  however,  with  the  old  writers.  Thus 
Hakluyt  writes,  "  this  coast  from  Cape  Breton,  &c.,  was 
again  discovered,"  and  elsewhere  he  narrates  the  "  dis- 

98 


VOYAGE  OF  STEPHEN  GOMEZ    99 

covery  "  of  the  Isle  of  Ramea  by  James  in  1591,  and,  on 
turning  the  page,  we  find  that  Cartier  "  discovered  the 
said  Isle  of  Ramea  in  the  year  1534,  as  you  may  reade  in 
page  250  of  this  present  volume"  ;  and  again  ''  John 
Verasanus  and  Stephen  Gomez  bothe  which  in  one  year 
1524  discovered  the  said  countries."  A  similar  latitude 
obtained  with  the  corresponding  words  in  other  lan- 
guages at  that  time.  It  is  proper  to  notice  this  usage 
here,  for  we  have  now  to  consider  the  voyage  of  Stephen 
Gomez,  in  so  far  as  it  was  made  along  the  same  coast 
"  discovered,"  as  Hakluyt  might  say,  by  Cabot  in  1498, 
and  Verrazano  in  1524. 

Stephen  Gomez  was  a  Portuguese  by  birth — born  at 
Oporto — who,  in  the  same  year  as  did  his  more  distin- 
guished fellow-countryman  Magellan,  transferred  his 
services  to  Spain.  Such  a  transfer  was  an  ordinary 
occurrence  at  that  time  and  elicited  no  comment;  but, 
by  a  strange  anachronism  in  the  case  of  Sebastian  Cabot, 
it  has  been  exaggerated  into  treason.  Gomez  was  a 
navigator  of  great  ability,  and  urged  upon  Charles  V. 
the  despatch  of  an  expedition  to  the  southwest  to  find  a 
passage  to  the  Indies.  The  expedition  sailed  in  15 19, 
but  the  chief  command  was  given  to  Magellan,  and 
Gomez  was  sent  as  pilot.  Actuated  by  jealousy  he 
deserted  in  the  strait  now  named  after  Magellan,  and, 
seizing  one  of  the  ships,  returned  to  Spain,  where  he 
prophesied  evil  of  the  expedition.  Certainly  an  envious 
and  treacherous  man ;  yet  there  is  no  word  of  reproach 
for  him  in  all  the  modern  books  so  eloquent  in  condemna- 
tion of  Sebastian  Cabot.  In  A.  D.  1522  Sebastian  del 
Cano  returned  to  Spain  with  one  of  Magellan's  ships. 
That  great  sailor  had  been  killed ;  but  his  enterprise  had 
succeeded,  and  Del  Cano,  first  of  all  men,  had  in  the 
little  vessel,  well  named  the  Victory,  circumnavigated  the 
world — a  feat,  which,  as  Herrera  well  says,  is  worthy  of 
eternal  memory. 

The  return  of  Del  Cano  made  the  Emperor  more 
anxious  to  discover  the  strait  at  the  North,  which  the 
cosmographers,  with  the  a  priori  reasoning  of  their  day. 


100    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

believed  must  exist,  and  lead  to  the  South  Sea  by  a  more 
direct  route.  Among-  them  Stephen  Gomez  was  the  most 
confident  and  insistent ;  for,  if  such  a  direct  passage  were 
found  at  the  North,  the  longer  and  more  perilous  voyage 
by  the  strait,  named  after  his  rival  Magellan,  would  be 
superseded.  Orders  were  given  by  the  Emperor,  in 
1523,  to  fit  out  an  expedition,  and  preparations  were 
going  forward  when  Gomez  was  summoned  to  Badajoz, 
to  attend,  as  an  expert,  the  sittings  of  the  commission  to 
settle  the  line  of  demarcation  of  the  treaty  of  Tordesillas. 
As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  get  away  he  resumed  his  prep- 
arations. There  were  others  concerned  besides  the  Em- 
peror (Charles  V.),  because  it  was  stipulated  that  if  any 
prizes  were  captured,  one-third  was  to  belong  to  Gomez 
and  the  crew,  and  the  other  two-thirds  to  the  King,  and 
to  those  who  had  supplied  the  equipment.  In  this 
economical  method  the  advancement  of  science  was  com- 
bined with  a  little  trading  and  a  little  cruising,  at 
the  expense  of  the  enemies  of  the  faith  and  of  the 
Emperor. 

Gomez  sailed  from  Corunna  very  late  in  1524,  or  early 
in  1525  (November,  1524,  to  February,  1525).  He  had 
only  one  ship.  She  was  of  fifty  tons  burden,  provisioned 
for  a  year,  and  thoroughly  well  fitted  out.  No  direct 
narrative  or  journal,  and  no  maps  from  his  hand  have 
survived.  It  has  been  much  discussed  whether  his 
course  along  the  American  coast  was  from  north  to 
south,  or  the  reverse.  The  Royal  instructions  have  been 
discovered  and  published  by  a  writer  in  Santiago  de 
Chili  quoted  by  Harrisse.  They  were,  "  to  examine  all 
the  coast  from  Florida  to  Bacallaos,"  and  D'Avezac  is 
clear  that  the  course  was  from  south  to  north — from 
Florida  to  Cape  Race,  but  it  must  be  observed  that  the 
opposite  direction  is  implied  by  many  authorities,  and 
Kohl  is  very  positive  on  that  point.  On  the  other  hand, 
however,  Galvano  distinctly  gives  his  course  as  from 
south  to  north,  from  Corunna  direct  to  Cuba,  and  thence 
to  Florida  and  northward  until  he  struck  homewards  to 
Corunna   again.     Galvano   wrote    about    1555,    and    his 


VOYAGE  OF  STEPHEN  GOMEZ  loi 

book  was  printed  in  1563,  a  few  years  after  his  death. 
He  was  a  man  of  the  rarest  abihty,  as  a  soldier  and  ad- 
ministrator for  Portugal  in  the  Moluccas  for  many  years, 
and  he  was  as  competent  as  a  captain  at  sea.  His  book 
was  written  at  Lisbon,  where  all  information  on  such 
matters  was  available.  That  Gomez  was  absent  for 
about  ten  months  is  well  established,  and  it  is  also  known 
that  he  sailed  in  the  mid-winter  of  1524-25.  That  being 
the  case  it  is  far  more  probable  that  he  commenced  at 
the  south ;  for  no  sailor  of  experience  would  have  sailed 
to  the  north  in  mid-winter,  with  the  intention  of  working 
his  way  to  the  south.'  It  would  have  been  to  fight 
against  the  succession  of  the  seasons,  and  to  run  deliber- 
ately into  the  most  unfavourable  conditions  of  naviga- 
tion on  the  northeast  coast  of  America.  He  would  have 
run  counter  to  the  trade  winds  and  equatorial  current, 
and  to  the  Gulf  Stream — influences  by  that  time  well 
recognised.  Galvano's  work  is  a  concise  abstract,  and 
Herrera,  forty  years  later,  gives  a  fuller  account.  He 
says  (Dec.  HI,  Bk.  8,  Cap.  8),  that  "  Gomez  sailed  with 
the  intention  of  going  to  the  north,  and  he  ran  along  the 
whole  coast  as  far  as  Florida,  covering  a  great  stretch  of 
land  beyond  that  which  had  been  sailed  along  by  any 
Spanish  ship  up  to  that  time;  although  Sebastian  Cabot, 
Jean  Verrazano,  and  others  had  navigated  there."  Un- 
able to  reach  Cathay,  he  kidnapped,  against  the  King's 
orders,  as  many  Indians  as  he  could  get  into  his  ship,  and 
carried  them  to  Spain.  He  crossed  from  Florida  to 
Cuba,  to  the  port  of  Santiago,  where  he  refreshed  his 
crew.  He  arrived  at  Corunna  after  ten  months'  ab- 
sence, bringing  back  with  him,  not  spices  from  the  dis- 
tant East,  but  a  cargo  of  slaves.  He  had  special  instruc- 
tions not  to  trespass  upon  territory  assigned  by  treaty  to 
Portugal,  and  did  not  go  north  of  Cape  Race. 

Gomez  had  the  strongest  motives  for  effort — hatred  of 
Magellan's  reputation,  and  the  desire  to  surpass  it. 
Galvano  describes,  in  a  few  words,  his  painstaking 
search,  "  sailing  by  day  because  the  land  was  unknown 
to  him,  and  so  that  he  could  see  into  every  bay,  creek, 


102    THE  ST.   LAWRENCE  BASIN 

river,  and  inlet,  whether  it  extended  over  to  the  other 
side  [of  the  land]." 

The  report  of  Gomez  was  made  to  the  King,  and  it 
passed,  as  such  papers  always  did,  to  the  ofificial  board 
of  cosmographers  and  pilots,  who  had  permanent  charge 
of  the  Spanish  marine,  and  of  the  Padron  Real,  or 
standard  official  map,  upon  which  all  discoveries  were 
recorded.  We  know  that  it  went  there,  for  we  find  its 
traces  on  the  official  maps,  and  in  1536  Alonzo  de  Chaves, 
a  distinguished  Royal  pilot  and  cosmographer,  was  in- 
structed by  the  King  to  revise  the  official  map,  and  bring 
it  down  to  date.  This  revised  map  has  not  come  down 
to  us  either,  but  Oviedo  wrote  his  "  Historia  General  y 
Natural  de  las  Indias  "  at  the  command  of  Charles  V., 
with  Chaves'  revision  before  him.  The  first  nineteen 
books  were  printed  at  Seville  in  1535,  and  reprinted  at 
Salamanca  in  1547.  The  remaining  part  lay  in  manu- 
script until  1852,  when  it  was  printed  by  the  Spanish 
Academy  of  History.  In  the  second  part  is  a  detailed 
description  of  the  coast  based  upon  Chaves'  map  up  to 
51°  30'  N.,  and  continued  to  the  north  upon  Ribeiro's  map, 
the  official  map  previous  in  date. 

Alonzo  de  Santa  Cruz  held  the  office  of  Chief  Royal 
Cosmographer  under  Charles  V.  and  Philip  II.,  at 
Seville.  He  wrote,  in  1560,  an  "  Islario  General,"  which 
has  not  been  printed.  Several  manuscript  copies  are, 
however,  extant,  and  Mr.  Harrisse  has  published  some 
interesting  extracts  from  them.  The  information  Santa 
Cruz  used  was  De  Chaves'  map  and  Gomez'  report. 
They  were  among  the  documents  in  his  office,  and  besides 
he  was  associated  with  De  Chaves  in  the  revision  of  1536. 
He  also  gives  a  description  of  the  northeast  coast  of 
America ;  but  he  makes  his  description  follow  the  map 
from  north  to  south,  while  Oviedo's  account  was  from 
south  to  north,  but  the  basis  of  both  is  the  report  of 
Gomez.  The  narrative  of  Oviedo  is  more  dififuse,  but  is 
obscure,  in  parts,  while  the  account  of  the  sailor  cos- 
mographer is  clearer,  though  shorter.  Alonzo  de  Santa 
Cruz  made  a  world  map    in  1542,  which  has  survived, 


VOYAGE  OF  STEPHEN  GOMEZ  103 

and  is  at  Stockholm,  where  it  has  been  reproduced  in 
facsimile.  There  is,  also,  a  sketch  map  in  his  manu- 
script "  Islario,"  which  Mr.  Harrisse  has  reproduced. 
These  are  the  materials  available  to  form  a  judgment. 

There  is  often  a  semblance  of  precision  in  these  old 
documents  which  is  disappointing  on  close  examination. 
The  distances  are  given  in  leagues ;  but  are  stated  in 
round  numbers,  such  as  twenty,  forty,  sixty,  one  hun- 
dred. Natural  objects  of  interest  do  not  lie  at  such  even 
distances,  and  it  is  not,  therefore,  surprising  to  find 
these  figures  seriously  astray.  They  are  always  in  ex- 
cess of  the  direct  distances  measured  on  a  modern  map ; 
for  they  were,  of  necessity,  the  distances  actually  sailed, 
and  in  following  a  coast  line  the  courses  could  not  have 
been  direct,  as  the  explorers  groped  their  way  along  with- 
out a  guide,  and  with  winds  from  all  quarters.  The 
latitudes  are,  with  one  exception,  from  one  degree  to  a 
degree  and  a  half  too  far  north.  Thus  Cape  Breton  is 
given  at  47°  30',  instead  of  46°,  and  Cape  Race  at 
47°  30',  also,  instead  of  46°  40',  so  that  Cape  Breton  and 
Cape  Race  are  made  to  be  exactly  east  and  west.  That 
is  usually  the  case,  on  the  earlier  maps,  because  they  are 
drawn  to  a  magnetic  meridian.  In  comparing  them  with 
maps  of  the  present  day,  drawn  invariably  to  the  true 
meridian,  the  bearings  will  always  appear  discrepant,  in 
the  ratio  of  the  local  variation.  The  leagues  must  also 
be  reduced  to  nautical  miles,  sixty  to  a  degree.  The 
Spanish  league  in  general  use  at  that  time  measured 
four  Italian  miles,  and  there  were  seventeen  and  a  half 
of  them  to  a  degree ;  or  seventy  miles  to  a  degree  of  the 
world's  circumference  as  then  known.  The  exacter 
measurements  of  modern  science  have  resulted  in  a 
degree  five  Italian  miles  longer.  Therefore  it  requires 
seventy-five  Italian  miles  to  be  the  equivalent  of  the 
sixty  nautical  miles  of  our  maps. 

With  all  these  drawbacks,  however,  we  may  arrive  at 
some  certain  results,  and  from  them  we  may  proceed  to 
sound  conclusions  upon  other  points.  The  natural  fea- 
tures of  the  coast  are  unchanged,  and  they  afford  sure 


104    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

ground.  Passing  over  the  coast  of  the  United  States  we 
find,  at  the  Penobscot,  close  to  the  Canadian  border,  a 
sure  point  of  departure.  It  is  known  on  the  Spanish 
maps  as  the  Rio  de  las  Gauias — Deer  River.  Santa 
Cruz  says  it  is  a  large  and  deep  river,  with  many  islands, 
and  Gomez  sailed  up  confidently  thinking  he  had  found 
the  passage  to  the  west.  He  found  the  climate  temper- 
ate. There  were  oak,  birch,  and  olive  trees  (he  was  not 
a  botanist),  and  wild  vines  w'ith  grapes.  We  may  feel 
sure,  then,  that  Gomez  was  not  there  in  January,  Feb- 
ruary, or  March,  which  would  have  been  the  case  if  he 
had  commenced  his  exploration  at  the  North.  He  re- 
ported having  found  a  mineral,  which  he  took  for  gold, 
and  he  must,  therefore,  have  landed,  which  will  account 
for  the  near  accuracy,  in  this  instance,  of  the  latitude 
recorded.  The  estuary  is  very  wide.  Oviedo  gives  it 
at  20  leagues  (64  nautical  miles) — an  excessive  meas- 
urement, for  it  is  only  forty  miles.  The  name  has  sur- 
vived all  the  vicissitudes  of  centuries,  for  the  largest 
island  at  the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot  is  still  called  Deer 
Island. 

At  the  eastern  end  of  the  course  is  another  firm  datum 
for  a  judgment — the  Bay  of  the  Bretons.  This  is  not 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  It  is  the  expanse  enclosed 
between  Cape  Canso,  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  the  south 
coast  of  Newfoundland.  Santa  Cruz  leaves  no  doubt 
as  to  that.  He  tells  us  that  every  year  the  Bretons  come 
to  fish  in  that  bay,  and  that  in  it  are  the  islands  of  the 
eleven  thousand  virgins,  which  are  shown  on  many  maps 
on  the  south  coast  of  Newfoundland ;  and  he  makes  it 
certain,  by  adding  that  passing  the  bay  to  the  west  we 
come  to  a  point  of  land  called  Cape  Breton. 

Another  solidly  established  locality  is  the  island  of  St. 
John.  This  is  not  Prince  Edward  Island.  Santa  Cruz 
says  it  is  an  island  which  extends  to  the  east  and  the 
west,  close  to  the  point  of  Cape  Breton.  It  is  56  leagues 
long  by  20  leagues  wide.  Oviedo  says  it  is  70  leagues 
long  on  the  north,  55  leagues  on  the  south,  20  leagues  on 
the  east,  and  that  it  runs  to  a  point  on  the  west,  and  is 


VOYAGE  OF  STEPHEN  GOMEZ  105 

145  leagues,  more  or  less,  in  circumference.  The  meas- 
urement is  excessive,  but  it  is  a  large  triangular  island 
close  to  the  land,  and  on  the  west  of  the  Bay  of  the 
Bretons.  Furthermore,  Santa  Cruz  says  it  is  of  good 
appearance,  with  many  trees,  and  rivers,  which  empty 
into  the  sea,  and  that  it  extends  from  46°  to  48°  N.  lat. 
It  really  extends  from  45°  30'  to  47°  N.  The  most  in- 
teresting point  of  Santa  Cruz'  statement  is  that  Gomez 
changed  the  position  of  the  island  on  the  map.  Before 
his  time  the  island  of  St.  John  was  in  the  Bay  of  the 
Bretons ;  but  Gomez,  he  says,  reported  that  it  is  adjacent 
to  the  land.  He  adds  that  no  one  had  said  anything 
about  this  island  before.  Evidently  then  Gomez  dis- 
covered Cape  Breton  to  be  an  island,  and  transferred  to 
it  the  name  of  an  island  called  St.  John,  which  was 
shown  by  other  cartographers  to  be  in  the  bay. 

Another  firm  geographical  fact  demonstrated  by 
Gomez  is  the  existence  and  location  of  the  Gut  of  Canso. 
This  is  by  no  means  the  passage  into  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  between  Cape  North  and  Cape  Ray,  recently 
named  Cabot  Strait.  Santa  Cruz  informs  us  that  be- 
tween the  island  of  St.  John  and  the  mainland  is  a  chan- 
nel (Sp.  canal),  and  Oviedo  gives  the  latitude  of  the 
point  of  it  as  46°  40'  N.  The  latitude  of  the  north  point 
is  really  45°  30'  but,  as  stated  before,  all  the  latitudes  are 
1°  to  1°  30''  too  much  to  the  north.  Santa  Cruz  calls  the 
passage  the  "  canal "  of  St.  Julian,  but  whether  St. 
Julian  or  St.  John  {Sand  Julian  or  Sanct  Johan)  it 
cannot  possibly  be  other  than  the  Gut  of  Canso.  Thus  we 
have  a  firm  terminus  a  quo  on  the  west — the  Penobscot 
— and  a  firm  terminus  ad  quern  on  the  east — the  Gut 
of  Canso ;  all  between  is  of  necessity  on  the  coast  of 
the  mainland  of  Acadia.  It  is  scarcely  possible  that 
Gomez  could  have  overlooked  the  Bay  of  Fundy  in  so 
close  an  examination  as  he  evidently  made.  Sailing 
from  the  south  as  the  season  indicates  that  he  did,  it 
would  not  be  possible,  and,  sailing  from  the  north,  it 
would  be  highly  improbable,  to  pass  it  over;  for  sailing 
south,    there    was    nothing    to    lead    him    to   strike    one 


io6    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

hundred  miles  across  from  Cape  Sable  to  the  Penobscot ; 
and  sailing  north,  he  would,  of  necessity,  have  followed 
the  coast  in  his  search  until  he  got  involved  in  the  bay 
and  saw  land  on  the  other  side.  It  has  always  been  a 
cause  of  wonder  that  so  remarkable  a  feature  as  the  Bay 
of  Fundy  should  have  passed  unmarked  on  the  maps 
until  Homem's  in  1558.  It  was  not  necessary  to  sail  to 
the  head  of  it  to  know  that  there  was  no  passage  through. 
The  phenomenally  high  tides  and  muddy  water  would 
soon  reveal  that;  but  one  seeking  for  a  passage  through 
would  get  a  long  way  up,  and  would  see  high  land  on 
the  right,  before  being  sure  that  this  wide  stretch  was 
only  a  bay. 

Having  thus  established  firm  ground  at  these  two 
points  the  task  of  filling  up  the  interval  will  be  narrowed. 
Commencing  then  at  the  Penobscot,  the  next  name  to  the 
east  is  Costa  de  Medanos,  which  is  translated  by  Kohl 
"  sandbanks."  The  word  medanos  is  an  old  Portuguese 
word,  and  is  defined  as  "  large  heaps  of  sand  covered  by 
shallow  water  near  the  seashore."  It  is  the  augmentative 
of  mcda,  a  rick  or  stack  of  anything,  as  hay,  corn,  sand 
(low  Latin  meta,  3.  heap,  accrviis).  The  coast  from  the 
Penobscot  to  the  St.  Croix  is  described  by  Champlain, 
who  examined  it  closely  in  1604.  "  Nous  passames  par 
grande  quantite  d'isles,  bancs,  battures  et  rochers  qui 
jettent  plus  de  quatre  lieux  a  la  mer  par  endroicts." 
The  main  shore  is  low,  and  consists  of  hard  Cambrian 
rocks,  and  it  is  fringed  with  numerous  detached  rocks 
and  rocky  islets.  The  tides  rise  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
six  feet,  and  at  ebb,  or  half  tide,  the  rocks  show  up  clad 
with  kelp  and  seaweeds,  as  far  as  the  swash  of  the  sea 
reaches.  It  is  a  very  monotonous  coast,  and  anyone 
passing  along  it  near  the  shore  at  ebb  tide  will  recognise 
the  feature  which  Gomez  meant  to  describe. 

The  next  name  is  simply  Golfo — a  gulf — Oviedo  calls 
it  "  another  bay  " ;  after  that  follows  Rio  de  Montanas, 
the  River  of  Mountains — a  physical  indication  which 
identifies  the  locality.  It  is  fifty  leagues,  or  160  nautical 
miles  from  the  Penobscot,  and  in  lat.  44°  15'  N.,  but,  in 


VOYAGE  OF  STEPHEN  GOMEZ  107 

the  map  to  the  Islario,  is  at  45°.  There  is  no  locality  on 
the  New  Brunswick  coast  answering  to  the  description, 
but  a  course  of  i8o  miles  would  bring  Gomez  as  far  up 
the  bay  as  the  opening  of  the  Basin  of  Minas,  where  the 
Cobequid  Mountains  on  the  north  terminate  in  Capes 
Chignecto  and  Cape  d'Or,  and,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
opening  the  two  ranges  which  border  the  Annapolis 
valley  terminate  in  Cape  Split  and  Cape  Blomidon — four 
headlands  which  might  well  suggest  the  name  Rio  de 
Montanas.  Whether  he  went  further  up  the  bay  there  is 
no  basis  for  a  guess ;  but  the  Chignecto  channel  would 
be  the  Golfo  of  the  maps  and  the  descriptions,  and,  on 
later  maps,  we  see  this  Golfo  fork  into  the  two  arms  of 
Chepody  Bay  and  Cumberland  Basin  on  either  side  of 
Cape  Merangouin  fifty  miles  farther  up. 

Oviedo  gives  twenty  leagues  (sixty-four  miles),  as 
the  distance  to  the  next  point,  Rio  de  Castanas.  There  is 
no  river  on  the  coast  until  the  Annapolis  River  breaks 
through  the  long  mountain  ridge  at  Digby  Gut.  It  is 
seventy  miles  direct  from  Rio  de  Montanas.  The  name, 
River  of  Chestnut  Trees,  indicates  that  the  place  was  on 
the  sheltered  west  side  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  certainly  not 
along  the  Atlantic  coast.  Gomez  was  not  strong  as 
a  botanist,  seeing  that  he  found  olive  trees  on  the 
Penobscot. 

The  chestnut  is  not  found  on  the  coast  of  Acadia,  but 
the  beech  is  very  abundant  on  the  western  shores  of 
Nova  Scotia,  and,  on  Lescarbot's  map  of  1607,  he  in- 
scribes C.  des  Noyers — Cape  of  nut-trees — at  the  west 
point  of  Digby  Gut.  In  the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabi- 
ant  that  locality  has  been  forested  with  beech  trees,  and, 
after  long  years,  the  name  would  still  be  appropriate, 
for  the  beech  trees  have  reproduced  themselves.  The 
American  beech  (F.  ferruginea)  differs  from  the  Euro- 
pean beech  {F.  sylvatica),  but  in  the  autumn  when  the 
nuts  are  ripe  the  flavour  is  pleasant.  The  nuts  grow  in 
large  quantities,  and  would  attract  the  attention  of  an 
explorer. 

The  next  point  noted  is  the  Bahia  de  la  Ensenada — the 


io8    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Bay  of  the  Bay.  This,  says  Oviedo,  is  at  45°.  Bearing 
in  mind  that  all  his  latitudes  are  i  °  to  i  °  30'  too  high,  we 
shall  find  that  St.  Mary's  Bay,  the  mouth  of  which  is  at 
44°  10',  will  well  answer  to  this  name.  It  is  a  very  re- 
markable, long  and  narrow  bay.  Oviedo  calls  it  in 
another  place  Ensciiada  0  bahia,  and  he  says  "  from  the 
Bay  of  the  Ensciiada  to  the  mouth  of  which  it  is  ten 
leagues"  (thirty-two  miles).  The  phrase  is  vague,  but 
he  does  not  count  the  ten  leagues  in  with  the  distance 
along  the  coast,  and  it  apparently  indicates  the  length  of 
the  inlet  or  bay,  and  St.  Mary's  Bay  is  really  twenty- 
eight  miles  long.  Then  from  the  mouth  of  this  bay  the 
distance  commences  to  be  measured  anew  along  the 
coast,  for  exactly  at  this  point  terminates  the  first  half  of 
the  entire  distance  between  the  two  known  and  fixed 
points. 

The  next  point  named  is  Rio  dc  la  Viielta — we  meet 
this  frequently  on  later  maps  as  Rio  or  Caho  dc  Buclta. 
This  has  been  translated  the  "river  of  return,"  where  some- 
body is  supposed  to  have  returned,  or  turned  back ;  but 
Harrisse  happily  translates  it  into  French  riviere  du 
detour — the  river  of  the  turning  or  changing  direction. 
This  point  is  twenty  leagues  (sixty-four  miles),  from 
Enscnada,  and  at  sixty-five  miles  we  find  Cape  Sable  at 
Barrington  harbour  on  the  S.  E.  point  of  Nova  Scotia, 
where  the  coast  does  indeed  turn ;  as,  in  the  Portuguese 
map  of  Viegas,  C.  de  Volta  is  Cape  Ray,  where  the  New- 
foundland coast  turns  to  the  north. 

We  are  now  upon  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  the  next 
point  named  is  Rio  Grande  (Great  River),  at  a  distance 
of  forty  leagues  (128  miles),  marked  by  three  islets  at 
its  mouth,  and  in  lat.  45°  45'  N.  The  islands  do  not 
assist ;  for  many  other  harbours  on  the  coast  have 
islands,  but  Halifax  harbour  at  a  distance  of  130  miles, 
and  in  lat.  44°  40'  would  correspond  to  the  indications, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  three  islets  are  there. 

Lastly,  we  come  to  our  terminus  ad  quern — the  fixed 
point  at  the  east — sixty  leagues  (192  miles)  from  Rio 
Grande,  is  in  Oviedo's  words:  "The  channel  made  by 


VOYAGE  OF  STEPHEN  GOMEZ  109 

the  island  of  St.  John  between  it  and  the  mainland."  The 
total  distance  is  recapitulated  by  Oviedo  as  240  leagues, 
divided  into  two  exact  halves — from  Rio  de  las  Ganias 
to  Bahia  de  la  Ensenada  120  leagues,  and  from  Bahia  de 
la  Ensenada  to  the  Canal  de  San  Julian  120  leagues.  We 
may  well  believe  that  no  coast  will  divide  up  into  such 
even  portions,  and  that  Gomez'  distances  are  lengthened 
by  the  sinuosities  of  the  coast.  The  following  table  will, 
however,  indicate  to  what  extent  the  explanation  given 
accords  with  them.  The  difference  between  the  two 
totals  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  nature  of  Gomez' 
coasting,  as  described  by  Galvano: 

TABLE    COMPILED   FROM    OVIEDO'S    DATA 
DISTANCES    GIVEN  LEAGUES      MILES 

Rio  de  las  Gamas  to 

Rio   de    Montanas 50  160 

Rio    de    Castanas 20  64 

Rio   de   la   Ensenada 50  160 

120  384 
Rio  de  la  Ensenada  to 

Rio  de  la  Vuelta 20  64 

Rio    Grande 40  128 

Canal    St.    Julian 60  192 

120  384 

DISTANCES  ON  A  MODERN  MAP  MILES 

Penobscot  to 

Basin    of    Minas 220 

Digby    Gut 70 

St.   Mary's   Bay 50 

340 
St.  Mary's  Bay  to 

Cape    Sable 65 

Halifax 130 

Canso 130 

325 

Total  course  of  two  equal  portions  reported  by  Oviedo  768  miles 
Total  course,  measured  on  a  chart 665  miles 


no    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

The  most  interesting  part  of  Gomez'  narrative,  and 
that  which  conclusively  demonstrates  his  capacity  as  an 
explorer  and  observer,  is  the  information  he  brought 
back  of  the  northeast  coast  of  Cape  Breton.  That  he 
was  there  is  certain,  and  also  that  his  coasting  was  along 
Nova  Scotia,  Cape  Breton,  and  the  southern  coast  of 
Newfoundland  to  Cape  Race.  He  was  the  first  to  ex- 
plore the  whole  coast  in  a  thorough  and  connected  man- 
ner. The  most  interesting  part  of  his  report  is  that 
relating  to  the  Island  of  St.  John,  known  to  us  as  the 
Island  of  Cape  Breton.  It  is  misleading  to  suppose  that 
anyone  sailing  round  that  island  would  know  how  pro- 
foundly the  Bras  d'Or  eats  into  the  heart  of  the  land.  A 
stranger  might  visit  the  island  now,  and  if  he  had  no 
books  or  map,  and  was  not  told  of  it,  he  would  know 
nothing  of  the  Bras  d'Or  unless  he  went  into  the  island, 
and  sailed  through  the  inland  waters.  No  one  seeing 
the  two  narrow  openings  (Rio  de  dos  Bocas),  or  even 
landing  on  the  narrow  isthmus,  at  St.  Peter's,  could 
dream  of  the  sylvan  loveliness  of  those  far-reaching 
stretches  of  bright  water  searching  among  the  hills.  It 
does  not  help  us  in  this  difficult  inquiry  to  divide  Cape 
Breton  into  two  islands.  It  was  one  solid  island  to 
Stephen  Gomez,  as  it  is  to  every  stranger ;  beautiful 
enough,  even  when  its  inmost  landscape  treasures  are 
unrevealed.  Gomez  reported  its  peculiar  exterior 
characteristics  with  the  precision  of  an  actual  observer. 
It  is  an  island  to  the  west  of  the  Bay  of  the  Bretons,  and 
adjacent  to  the  mainland,  from  which  it  is  separated  by 
the  "  Canal  de  St.  Julian  "  (the  word  is  canal,  and  is  not 
used  elsewhere).  The  width  of  the  canal  is  given  as  five 
to  ten  leagues,  and  there  are  islands  in  it  which,  being 
small,  have  no  names  (this  is  the  eastern  approach  by 
Chedabucto  Bay  with  Isle  Madame  and  other  islands), 
but  it  is  narrowest  at  its  western  end  (the  Gut  of  Canso). 
On  the  Island  of  St.  John  "  is  the  point  of  Cape  Breton." 
The  island  is  pleasant  to  the  sight,  and  clad  with  trees; 
there  are  rivers  which  fall  into  the  sea,  and  there  are 
abundant  fisheries  close  to  it.     Thirty-five  leagues  north 


VOYAGE  OF  STEPHEN  GOMEZ  in 

of  the  point  of  Cape  Breton  is  Cabo  Grueso  (large  cape, 
Cape  North),  and  halfway  between  the  two  capes  is  the 
Rio  de  dos  Bocas  (two  mouths,  the  two  narrow  openings 
through  the  hills  of  the  Bras  d'Or),  and,  as  if  to  leave  us 
no  room  for  doubt,  Santa  Cruz  adds :  "  Stephen  Gomez 
relates  that  in  sailing  along  that  coast  he  saw  a  great  deal 
of  smoke  on  it,  and  signs  of  its  being  inhabited." 
Stephen  Gomez  saw  what  the  tourist  will  see  from  any 
steamer's  deck  to-day.  Within  a  few  miles  of  halfway 
to  Cape  North  (from  Cape  Breton),  on  turning  Point 
Aconi,  he  will  see  on  his  left  the  two  mouths  of  the  Bras 
d'Or;  and  before  him  will  be  Cape  Smoky  (Cape  En- 
fume  of  the  French  maps).  He  will  be  in  the  Baia  dos 
Fumos  of  the  old  Portuguese  charts ;  before  his  eyes 
the  smoke-like  mists — the  unique  feature  of  the  place — 
will  still  climb  the  steep  clififs,  and  on  the  north,  to  the 
right,  will  rise  the  lofty  bulk  of  Cape  North,  the  C. 
Grueso  of  the  old  Spanish  sailor.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  about  the  place.  There  is  nothing  like  it  along 
the  whole  coast  of  North  America.  Its  singularity  justi- 
fies the  characteristic  name  it  bears  in  all  the  languages 
of  western  Europe. 

We  may  now  proceed  to  follow  the  reports  of  Gomez, 
as  represented  by  De  Chaves,  Oviedo,  and  Santa  Cruz, 
concerning  Cabot  Strait,  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and 
the  south  coast  of  Newfoundland,  for  in  following  his 
course  we  have  arrived  at  a  definitely  ascertained  point. 
We  know  that  Gomez  found  no  western  passage,  and, 
though  he  firmly  believed  one  to  exist  close  to  Bacallaos 
and  Labrador,  he  believed  it  would  be  of  no  use  because 
of  the  cold.  To  the  northeast  of  Cape  Grueso  forty 
leagues  "  is  a  river  without  a  name,"  excepting  that  of 
Rio  de  Muchas  Islas,  and  "  this  coast  is  full  of  islands." 
Then  follow  the  islands  of  St.  Elmo,  the  Eleven  Thou- 
sand Virgins,  Cape  St.  Mary,  and  at  last  Cape  Race. 
These  four  names  show  that  he  is  dealing  with  the  south 
coast  of  Newfoundland.  The  description  reverts  to 
Cape  Grueso  as  follows:  "Before  the  said  [nameless] 
river  there  is  a  bay   farther  on  from  the  same  Cape 


112    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Grueso,  which  bay  is  twenty  leagues  across."  This  can 
be  no  other  than  Cabot  Strait  taken  as  a  bay ;  for  from 
Cape  North  across  to  Cape  Ray  is  actually  fifty-six  miles, 
and  Gomez  reports  it  as  twenty  leagues,  or  sixty-four 
miles.  So  far  it  is  plain,  but  then  follows  a  confused 
and  contradictory  passage;  which  is  yet  important,  be- 
cause of  its  very  obscurity,  for  it  proves  that  at  that  time 
nothing  was  known  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and 
that  Cabot  Strait  was  taken  to  be  a  bay:  "And  it  [the 
bay]  is  called  by  the  cosmographer  Alonzo  de  Chaves 
up  to  the  said  cape,  which  is  more  to  the  east,  River  de 
Muchas  Islas.  But  the  bay  between  these  two  capes  is 
130  leagues  or  more  across ;  which  I  neither  deny  nor 
approve,  because  in  this  land  little  knowledge  is  had  of 
the  details  of  the  northern  bays,  and  I  think  that  in  re- 
gard to  what  he  drew  upon  the  map  he  was  perhaps  less 
accurately  informed  than  he  might  have  been.  And  thus 
there  are  many  differences  on  this  northern  coast  on  the 
navigators'  charts  and  among  cosmographers,  and  as  it 
is  a  very  cold  and  savage  land,  few  care  to  navigate 
there."  There  is  thus  a  bay  twenty  leagues  across — 
Cabot  Strait ;  a  distance  of  forty  leagues  northeast  to  the 
Rio  de  Muchas  Islas — on  the  Newfoundland  coast ;  and 
a  bay  of  130  leagues  across,  between  two  capes  not  in- 
dicated, which  can  be  no  other  than  the  Bay  of  the  Bre- 
tons ;  for  it  is  abundantly  clear  that  all  these  distances 
are  east  of  Cape  North  and  of  the  Island  of  St.  John 
(Cape  Breton),  and  are  measured  outwards  to  Cape 
Race. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  too  much  attention  has 
been  given  to  the  voyage  of  Gomez,  and  the  accounts  of 
the  above  cited  authorities,  for  upon  the  view  taken  of  it 
depends  our  estimate  of  the  extent  of  the  discoveries  of 
Jacques  Cartier.  We  shall  see  later  on  that  Cartier  did 
not  pass  through  Cabot  Strait  until  his  return  from  his 
second  voyage.  To  him  also,  until  then,  it  was  a  bay, 
and  as  a  bay  it  was  laid  down  on  all  the  maps  until  the 
results  of  Cartier's  discoveries  were  made  known 
throughout   Europe,   and   on   the   great  map   of   Santa 


VOYAGE  OF  STEPHEN  GOMEZ  113 

Cruz  (1542)  it  is  still  a  bay.  As  for  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 
Champlain  relates  that  in  1607,  when  Poutrincourt  first 
visited  the  Basin  of  Minas  he  found  there  a  very  old 
cross  covered  with  moss  and  nearly  all  rotted  away. 
Champlain  thought  it  conclusive  evidence  that  Christians 
had  been  there  a  long  time  before  him,  and  from  the 
tenor  of  the  preceding  chapter  it  will  appear  probable 
that  the  cross  was  a  vestige  of  the  voyage  of  Gomez. 


CHAPTER  IX 

RESULTS  OF  EXPLORATION  UP  TO  JACQUES  CARTIER'S  FIRST 

VOYAGE 

BY  1534,  when  Jacques  Cartier  first  appeared  in  the 
history  of  discovery,  the  whole  Atlantic  seaboard 
'  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  had  been  explored. 
Cabot  had  touched  it  in  1497,  ^^^y  i"  his  second 
voyage,  in  1498,  had  sailed  along  its  full  extent  from 
Labrador  far  beyond  its  southern  border.  Verrazano,  as 
we  have  seen,  sailed  along  it  from  south  to  north  as  far 
as  lat.  50°  N.,  when  he  turned  off  towards  France,  but 
there  is  no  record  of  his  having  landed  north  of  the 
present  New  Hampshire.  Stephen  Gomez,  in  1525,  made 
a  real  exploration  of  the  whole  Acadian  coast,  and  John 
Rut  sailed  in  1527  from  Belle-Isle  to  the  West  Indies  and 
seems  to  have  landed  at  several  places  in  Acadia. 

The  Portuguese  and  Bretons  had  been  fishing  on  the 
coast  with  increasing  activity  since  1504.  The  Portu- 
guese had  resorts  on  the  Acadian  coasts,  and  the  islands 
off  the  south  shore  of  Newfoundland  had  been  included 
in  the  grant  of  1521  to  Fagundez,  as  well  as  that  ocean 
terror  now  known  as  Sable  Island.  They  had  pushed 
up  the  east  coast  to  Newfoundland,  and  yet,  so  far  as  the 
contour  of  the  Labrador  coast  is  concerned,  the  map  of 
Salvat  de  Pilestrina  (1503)  is  nearer  the  truth  than  the 
maps  made  fifty  years  later. 

There  are  a  number  of  Portuguese  maps,  dated  in 
1534  or  a  little  before,  which  show  graphically  the  results 
of  discovery  up  to  the  time  of  Cartier,  and  of  these  the 
most  characteristic  is  one  of  Caspar  Viegas,  1534. 
(See  page  115.)  Here  appears  in  rudimentary  form  the 
Gulf  of  St.   Lawrence.      It  is  shown,  as  Gomez  sup- 

114 


RESULTS  OF  EXPLORATION     n^ 

posed  it  to  be,  as  a  bay.  Cabot  Strait  is  there  leading 
into  it,  but  the  west  coast  of  Newfoundland  is  brought 
round  to  enclose  the  bay  by  connecting  with  the  coast  of 
Acadia.  The  island  of  Cape  Breton  is  shown  separated 
by  a  narrow  channel  from  the  mainland.  A  map  of  the 
same  year  in  the  Riccardiana  Library   (No.  xxxiii.  of 


Fig.  8.  Caspar  Viegas'  Map,  A.  D.  1534 

Kretschmer)  shows  the  same  features  in  the  main.  In 
both  maps  rudimentary  and  conjectural  rivers  are  in- 
dicated opening  into  the  round  basin,  the  nucleus  from 
which  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  was  soon  to  be  developed 
and  in  the  Riccardiana  map  the  Ir.land  of  Cape  Breton 
is  named  the  Island  of  St.  John.     In  all  these  maps  it  is 


ii6    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

necessary  first  to  find  Cape  Race  if  we  would  not  go 
astray.  It  is  the  key  to  all  maps,  for  its  name  never 
changes.  It  is  shown  in  these  maps  at  the  east  end  of  the 
south  coast  of  Newfoundland,  and  at  the  west  end  is  C. 
de  Volta  (Cape  Ray),  where  the  coast  turns  sharply  to 
the  north.  The  same  rudimentan,-  gulf  is  seen  on  the 
Wolfenbuttel  map  (1534),  and  the  contour  given  de- 
lineates the  Bay  of  the  Bretons,  as  described  by  Oviedo 
and  Santa  Cruz,  marked  out  by  Cape  Race  and  Cape 
Canso  with  the  Island  of  St.  John  (beyond  question  Cape 
Breton  Island),  on  its  western  side. 

As  shown  in  the  previous  chapter,  the  Bay  of  Fundy 
was  not  passed  over  by  Gomez.  On  the  Weimar  map 
(1527),  sometimes  ascribed  to  Fernan  Columbus,  the 
name  Golfo  marks  its  place ;  and  upon  the  map  of  Santa 
Cruz  the  same  name  also  appears,  where  we  expect  to 
find  it,  between  the  Costa  de  Medaiios  and  Cabo  de 
Montaiias.  But  these  maps,  and  many  others,  show 
plainly  why  the  distances  are  so  frequently  excessive. 
Even  profound  indentations,  like  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  are 
not  laid  down  in  their  proportions,  but  are,  as  in  this 
case,  marked  by  small  conventional  river-mouths,  which 
do  not  count  in  the  measurement  along  the  shore, 
though  the  bay  or  gulf  was  actually  sailed  round.  In 
that  way,  until  advancing  knowledge  checked  the  dis- 
tances by  actual  observations  of  latitudes,  made  on  land 
with  care  and  precision,  the  coast  of  America  was 
straightened  and  stretched  out  abnormally.  In  the  case 
of  Oviedo's  description  of  the  coast  in  the  preceding 
chapter  all  the  latitudes  are  shown  to  be  too  high ;  and, 
as  he  goes  on,  following  northwards  up  the  coast,  the 
excess  increases  to  10°  until  it  reaches  at  last  a  total 
latitude  of  70°  N.,  while  Cape  Chidley  is  really  only  at 
60°.  What  is  more  suggestive  is  that  the  point  of  70°, 
up  to  which  the  American  coast  is  followed,  is  said  to 
be  "  on  the  west-east  line  with  Ireland  and  with  Scot- 
land." The  American  coast,  compared  with  that  of 
Europe,  is  thus  stretched  by  fifteen  degrees  of  latitude. 

Before   the   year    1534,    therefore,    Cabot    Strait    was 


RESULTS  OF  EXPLORATION     117 

known  only  as  the  entrance  to  a  bay  of  unknown  extent. 
In  like  manner,  to  the  north  of  Newfoundland,  the 
Strait  of  Belle-Isle  was  known  as  the  entrance  to  a  bay, 
also  of  unknown  extent.  These  openings  had  been  laid 
down  as  early  as  1505  in  Pedro  Reinel's  map  (page  57)  ; 
but  there  are  no  indications  that  they  had  been  followed 
up.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  they  were.  The 
coast  was  resorted  to  every  summer  by  fishermen  for  the 
sole  object  of  commerce,  and  there  was  no  inducement 
to  exploration,  since  the  eastern  shores  of  Newfound- 
land and  Acadia  swarmed  with  fish  and  abounded  in  safe 
and  commodious  harbours.  It  is,  of  course,  possible 
that  some  sailor,  more  curious  than  the  rest,  may  have 
penetrated  farther;  but,  if  so,  not  a  vestige  of  his  enter- 
prise has  come  down  to  our  day.  The  vessels  frequent- 
ing the  coasts  were  owned  by  merchants  in  the  ports  of 
western  Europe.  The  merchants  of  St.  Malo  may  be 
taken  as  a  type  of  the  rest.  They  did  not  care  for  dis- 
coveries, and  they  set  themselves  obstinately  against 
Cartier's  enterprise,  and  hid  away  their  sailors  and  pilots 
to  prevent  them  joining  his  expedition,  until  the  King's 
authority  was  appealed  to  in  court.  In  that  very  appeal, 
however,  it  is  clear  that  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle  was  well 
known,  for  Cartier's  intention  is  avowed  "  passer  le  des- 
troict  de  la  baye  des  Chasteaiix,"  to  go  beyond  the  Strait 
off  Chateau  Bay — for  that  was  the  name  by  which  the 
Strait  of  Belle-Isle  was  then  known.  Cartier's  com- 
plaint was  that  these  merchants,  for  their  own  private 
profit,  were  opposing  the  public  interest  as  well  as  the 
express  command  of  the  King. 

In  the  following  chapters  it  will  be  seen  that  Cartier 
went  to  the  east  coast  of  Newfoundland  with  previous 
knowledge  of  its  chief  harbours.  We  shall  find  that  his 
knowledge  did  not  give  out  until  he  had  reached  what 
is  now  known  on  the  charts  as  Esquimaux  Bay;  well 
to  the  westward  of  Blanc  Sablon,  the  present  boundary 
of  the  Province  of  Quebec.  The  name  Brest,  already  at 
his  visit  attached  to  that  locality,  proves  that  Breton 
sailors  had  been  there  before  him,  and  the  name  clung 


ii8    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

there  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  It  is,  therefore, 
incorrect  to  say  that  Cartier  discovered  the  Strait  of 
Belle-Isle ;  and  it  is  also  incorrect  to  say  that  in  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence  he  was  antedated  by  moose  or  whale 
hunters  of  any  nation.  His  own  plain,  straightforward 
narrative  shows  where  his  discoveries  begin.  We  have 
now  to  follow  him  into  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  up 
the  flood  of  its  great  river  to  the  site  of  the  present  city 
of  Montreal,  the  centre  and  heart  of  the  commercial  life 
of  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  All  attempts  to  detract  from 
the  merit  of  this  achievement  in  favour  of  imaginary 
Basques  or  other  problematical  people  will  be  found  to 
be  futile.  As  soon  as  the  distracted  state  of  France  per- 
mitted it,  the  attention  of  the  King  and  Court  once  more 
turned  to  the  world  beyond  the  sea,  and  Cartier  was 
commissioned  to  demonstrate  what  had  previously  only 
been  suspected. 

Verrazano  had  returned  from  his  voyage  at  a  very  un- 
fortunate time ;  for  the  six  months  of  his  absence  had 
been  fraught  with  danger  to  France.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  Verrazano's  letters  reached  the  King,  for  he  was 
then  assembling  a  force  to  repel  invasion,  and  was  enter- 
ing upon  the  fatal  campaign  which  resulted  in  the  over- 
whelming disaster  at  Pavia.  Francis  did  not  regain  his 
liberty  until  March,  1526,  and  a  period  of  exhaustion 
followed,  during  which  France  recovered  from  the  losses 
and  confusion  of  the  Italian  war. 

The  Duchy  of  Bretagne  was  becoming  an  integral  part 
of  France,  although  it  was  nominally,  in  1534,  a  separate 
principality.  Anne  of  Bretagne,  the  last  Duchess,  had 
successively  married  Charles  VIII.  and  Louis  XII.  of 
France,  but  reigned  all  her  life  with  her  own  Parliament 
in  her  own  duchy.  She  had  bequeathed  the  succession  to 
her  daughter  Claude,  who  married  Francis  I. ;  and,  al- 
though the  estates  had  sworn  allegiance  to  the  joint  sov- 
ereigns, they  did  not  thereby  annex  the  duchy  to  France, 
and  Queen  Claude  at  her  death,  in  1524,  left  the  inherit- 
ance to  her  son — the  Dauphin — and  the  revenues  only  to 
her  husband  during  his  life.  Even  that  disposition  was  re- 


RESULTS  OF  EXPLORATION     119 

sisted  by  the  Bretons  as  illegal,  and  the  Parliament  of 
Bretagne,  while  admitting  the  right  of  the  King  to 
govern  them  as  Duke,  subject  to  their  own  laws,  claimed 
the  right  of  separating  the  duchy  from  the  Crown  and 
settling  it  upon  any  of  the  younger  princes,  or  even  of 
continuing  the  succession  in  the  female  line.  This  danger 
to  the  monarchy  was  overcome  in  August,  1532,  when 
the  estates  were  won  over  by  adroit  management ;  and, 
although  the  Dauphin  was  proclaimed  as  Duke,  the 
annexation  of  Bretagne  to  the  crown  of  France  was 
declared  irrevocable,  and  the  antagonism  between  Bretons 
and  Frenchmen  disappeared.  In  Hakluyt  and  the  older 
writers,  however,  the  distinction  was  for  a  long  time 
maintained ;  and  it  has,  sometimes,  led  to  misunderstand- 
ings of  the  texts ;  for  the  word  "  Breton  "  was  very  often 
spelled  "  Briton,"  and  was  read  as  if  it  were  equivalent  to 
English.  The  period  of  Cartier's  voyage,  therefore,  was 
an  epoch  in  the  history  of  France,  for  the  Breton  sailors, 
who  had  pursued  their  vocation  undisturbed  by  the 
Italian  wars,  found  themselves  Frenchmen,  with  an  un- 
divided allegiance.  Between  1529  and  1540  the  French 
marine  made  great  strides ;  for,  disappointed  abroad, 
France  turned  back  upon  herself,  and  there  found  thaf 
recuperative  strength  which  has  so  often  astonished  her 
enemies. 

The  renewal  of  efforts  towards  discovery  in  the  New 
World  was  due  to  Philippe  de  Chabot,  seigneur  de  Brion, 
Admiral  of  France,  a  favourite  courtier  of  King  Francis 
and  companion  of  his  youthful  years.  He  brought  the 
subject  before  the  King,  and,  this  time,  with  a  view 
to  ultimate  occupation  and  perhaps  colonisation.  The 
leader  he  selected  to  receive  the  Royal  Commission  was 
a  Breton  of  St.  Malo — Jacques  Cartier — the  revealer  of 
the  highway  to  the  centre  of  the  continent,  the  St.  Law- 
rence valley. 

Cartier  was  born  at  St.  Malo  in  149 1,  and,  at  the  time 
of  his  first  recorded  voyage,  was  forty-three  years  old. 
From  incidental  remarks  upon  some  new  objects  which 
he  saw  in  Canada  it  is  most  probable  that  he  had  made 


120    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

a  voyage  in  a  Portuguese  vessel  to  Brazil.  '  He  was 
acquainted  with  the  Portuguese  language,  for  on  one 
occasion  he  acted  as  interpreter  in  court,  and  on  another 
occasion  was  called  upon  to  testify  to  the  sufficiency  of 
an  interpreter  in  a  trial  at  St.  Malo  for  the  adjudication 
of  a  Portuguese  prize  taken  by  some  Breton  privateers. 
His  portrait  hangs  up  in  the  town  hall  of  St.  Malo.  It 
is,  says  Parkman,  a  painting  of  modern  date,  and  of 
doubtful  authenticity.  Another  portrait  has  been  found 
in  the  print  collection  of  the  Bibliotheque  Imperiale ;  it 
is  not  idealised  like  the  St.  Malo  portrait,  and  has  not  the 
same  self-conscious  look,  but  the  one  in  the  town  hall  has 
been  received  so  long  as  an  authentic  portrait  of  the  Bre- 
ton sailor,  and  has  been  so  generally  accepted  throughout 
Canada,  that  we  give  it  here  once  more. 

Lescarbot  relates  that  Cartier  himself  made  the  first 
move  and  brought  the  enterprise  under  Admiral  Cha- 
bot's  notice,  and,  indeed,  it  may  well  have  happened  that 
Cartier  on  a  previous  voyage  to  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle 
had  seen  the  shores  widening  to  the  west,  and  suspected 
that  there  lay  the  avenue  to  Cathay.  To  that  spot  he 
went  confidently,  as  to  a  place  he  knew.  Others  also 
knew  of  the  country ;  the  "  gran  capitano  Francese  "  of 
Ramusio  told  of  Jean  Denys  and  the  pilot  Gamart,  who 
sailed  from  Honfleur  in  1506,  and  of  Thomas  Aubert, 
of  Dieppe,  in  1508,  and  recent  Norman  writers  have  dis- 
covered and  published  the  names  of  a  number  of  vessels 
which  sailed  in  those  early  times  for  Newfoundland  from 
Norman  ports.  There  were  other  ports  in  France  famed 
for  maritime  enterprise  besides  those  of  Nomiandy  and 
Brittany,  and  it  was  a  ship  of  La  Rochelle  which  Cartier 
met  with,  on  his  first  voyage,  inside  the  Strait  of  Belle- 
Isle,  and  within  the  present  limits  of  the  Province  of 
Quebec. 


^==^^^i^c^ 


Jacques  Cartier 

From  Charlevoix  Historv  of  New  France,  bv  permission  of 
Mr.  Francis  P.  Harper 


CHAPTER  X 
cartier's  first  voyage,  a.  d.  1534 

j4  GAIN  we  must  turn  to  Italy,  even  from  the  France 
/%  of  Francis  I.,  if  we  wish  to  read  the  earhest 
/  %  printed  accounts  of  Jacques  Cartier's  first  voy- 
age. Yet  it  was  a  time  of  great  Hterary  activity 
in  France.  Robert  Estienne  had  been  chosen  by  Francis 
as  Royal  Printer  and  was  at  the  height  of  his  fame.  The 
presses  teemed  with  books,  but  Cartier's  first  voyage  was 
not  of  sufficient  interest  to  be  printed ;  so  difficult  has  it 
been  in  every  age  to  estimate  the  relative  importance  of 
contemporary  events  and  of  contemporary  men.  The 
narrative  appeared  first  in  the  third  volume  of  the  great 
collection  of  Ramusio,  printed  at  Venice  in  1556,  and 
from  it  John  Florio  made  an  English  translation,  pub- 
lished in  1580,  which  Hakluyt  adopted  and  included  in 
his  collection  a  few  years  later.  This  is  the  version 
which  has  continually  been  reprinted  and  referred  to. 
The  first  French  version  was  published  at  Rouen,  in 
1598,  by  a  book-seller — Raphael  du  Petit- Val.  Only  one 
copy  has  survived,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  pur- 
ports to  be  a  translation  from  a  version  in  some  foreign 
language.  This  is  the  version  used  by  Lescarbot  for  his 
"  History  of  New  France,"  in  1612.  It  was  reprinted  in 
1843  by  the  Literary  and  Historical  Society  of  Quebec, 
and  by  Tross  (Paris)  in  1865.  It  was  not  until  1867 
that  M.  Michelant  printed  an  original  manuscript  ac- 
count which  he  had  discovered  in  the  Imperial  Library 
at  Paris.  This  version  is  distinguished  as  the  "  Relation 
Originale." 

Those  who  have  endeavoured  to  trace  Cartier's  course 
on  his  first  voyage  have  complained  of  the  obscurity  of 

121 


122    THE  ST.   LAWRENCE  BASIN 

the  records,  and  of  its  many  contradictions.  Even 
Lescarbot  made  that  complaint,  and  Charlevoix  re- 
marks that  the  disappearance  of  Cartier's  names  from 
the  coast  has  imparted  much  obscurity  to  his  narrative. 
But  the  difficulty  was  really  due  to  the  fact  that  students 
had  not  Cartier's  own  narrative  until  1867,  and  were  en- 
deavouring to  understand  narratives  which  were  trans- 
lations of  translations.  The  translator  from  French  into 
Italian  had  misunderstood  many  of  the  nautical  terms 
used  by  Cartier ;  and  Hakluyt,  who,  though  a  clergyman, 
was  well  informed  in  nautical  matters,  and  might  have 
understood  them  if  he  had  seen  the  original,  simply 
followed  Florio's  translation  from  Ramusio.  What 
version  Petit-Val's  edition  was  translated  from  is  not 
certain.  It  differs  from  Ramusio  and  from  Hakluyt  in 
minor  ways,  although  there  is  a  general  correspondence 
among  them  all. 

As  might  reasonably  be  expected,  Jacques  Cartier  has 
found  his  best  expositors  in  the  country  he  discovered, 
since  they  could  best  know  the  localities  he  described. 
Very  many  writers  in  Canada  have  published  expositions 
of  his  voyages,  and  the  names  of  some  of  them  will  be 
found  in  the  list  of  authorities  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 
The  learned  and  careful  Abbe  Ferland  had,  among 
others,  identified  many  of  the  places  mentioned,  but 
difficulties  still  remained.  These  were  almost  all  solved 
in  original  studies  by  Dr.  W.  F.  Ganong  and  Bishop 
Howley,  so  that  the  course  of  Cartier  on  his  first  voyage 
is  now  as  clear  from  end  to  end  as  a  voyage  made  nearly 
four  hundred  years  ago  can  be  expected  to  be.  Mr. 
Ganong  succeeded  by  subordinating  all  versions  to  the 
"  Relation  Originale,"  and  Bishop  Howley  frankly  ig- 
nored every  other.  Owing  to  that,  and  to  the  fact  that  he 
was  familiar  with  many  of  the  localities,  because  they 
were  in  his  diocese,  he  cleared  up  some  points  on  the 
coast  of  Newfoundland  which  had  remained  in  doubt. 

The  "  Relation  Originale  "  is  evidently  from  the  hand 
of  Jacques  Cartier ;  for,  although  with  singular  modesty 
he  has  suppressed  all  direct  mention  of  himself,  there 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      123 

shows  out  from  time  to  time  in  his  inexperienced  effort 
an  indication  that  the  commander  of  the  expedition  is  the 
narrator.  The  style  is  that  of  a  man  unaccustomed  to 
write,  excepting  in  the  technical  and  abrupt  manner  of  a 
sailor's  log.  It  is  a  sailor's  style,  abounding  in  nautical 
expressions.  The  language  is  Breton  French,  with 
technical  locutions,  and  the  grammar  and  spelling  are 
very  incorrect.  Spelling  was  unsettled  at  that  period, 
both  in  England  and  France,  but  the  spelling  of  the  "  Re- 
lation Originale  "  far  exceeds  the  then  current  average  of 
eccentricity.  Nevertheless  the  narrative  is  clear,  and  in- 
telligible compared  with  all  the  versions,  and  very  rarely 
do  these  translations  at  second  hand  contribute  anything 
to  the  elucidation  of  a  difficulty ;  on  the  contrary,  by 
their  explanatory  glosses,  and  their  efforts  to  improve 
the  mariner's  style,  they  rendered  it  more  obscure. 
Other  difficulties  arose  from  the  fact  that  Cartier  sailed 
in  a  region  of  great  magnetic  variation.  Not  only  was 
that  great  in  degree,  but  it  varied  abruptly,  as  it  does  at 
the  present  day.  While  the  direction  is  affected  by  that 
cause,  the  distances  are  measured,  not  in  the  leagues  of 
Columbus  and  the  southern  sailors,  but  in  a  league  of 
three  Roman  miles.  If  then  we  would  measure  Cartier's 
courses  on  an  Admiralty  chart  we  must  allow  only  two 
and  a  half  nautical  miles  for  each  league,  for  that  is  the 
equivalent  value  to  a  small  fraction.  This  old  French 
league,  as  may  be  seen  in  Chabert's  "  Voyage,"  lingered 
even  as  late  as  1753,  and  maps  were  made  some  of 
twenty  and  some  of  twenty-five  leagues  to  a  degree.  His 
distances,  moreover,  tend  to  err  by  excess,  for  his  course 
was  not  always  in  the  most  direct  line. 

The  expedition  consisted  of  two  vessels,  each  of  about 
sixty  tons'  burthen,  and  carrying  in  all  sixty-one  men, 
who  took  the  oath  of  obedience  before  the  Vice-Admiral 
of  France  in  person.  It  sailed  from  St.  Malo  on  the  20th 
of  April,  1534.  They  had  favourable  weather,  and 
arrived  on  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  on  May  10,  after 
a  voyage  of  twenty  days.  The  distance  is  about  2052 
nautical  miles,  and  from  the  voyage  we  may  assume  that 


124    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

ships  in  those  days,  when  sailed  by  competent  captains, 
and  under  the  most  favourable  circumstances,  could 
make  one  hundred  miles  a  day,  or  a  fraction  over  four 
admiralty  knots  an  hour.  Pedro  de  Medina  in  his  "  Arte 
de  navegar  "  (1545)  rates  the  utmost  speed  of  a  ship  at 
four  Italian  miles  an  hour,  so  that  the  first  voyage  to 
Canada  was  exceptionally  prosperous. 

Cartier's  landfall  was  at  Cape  Bonavista,  on  the  east 
coast  of  Newfoundland — Cap  de  Bonneviste,  as  he  calls 
it.  He  gives  the  latitude  at  48°  30'  N. — not  far  astray, 
for  it  is  really  48°  42'  N.  He  found  the  coast  blocked 
with  field  ice.  The  conditions  of  navigation  have  not 
since  changed.  The  easterly  winds  which  sped  Cartier 
on  his  way  had  blocked  the  east  coast  of  Newfoundland 
with  the  Arctic  ice.  It  was  actually  only  May  i  of  our 
present  style,  for  the  calendar  had  not  been  revised,  and 
the  dates  had  got  ahead  of  the  seasons  by  nine  days.  He 
was  therefore  obliged  to  go  into  a  harbour  five  leagues 
S.  S.  W.,  called  Ste.  Catherine,  and  now  known  by  the 
Spanish  equivalent  Catalina.  There,  sheltered  from  the 
northeast,  he  remained  for  ten  days,  waiting  for  the  ice 
to  clear  away,  and  employing  the  time  in  fitting  up  his 
boats. 

On  May  21  the  wind  changed  to  the  west,  and  he 
sailed  N.  N.  E.  from  Cape  Bonavista  to  the  Isle  aux 
Oiseaux ;  on  some  Portuguese  maps  ysia  de  los  avcs, 
but  now  known  as  Funk  Island.  He  found  it  packed 
around  with  field  ice,  but  managed  to  reach  the  island  in 
his  boats.  It  was  a  league  in  circumference,  and  so  full 
of  sea  fowl  that  "  it  would  be  incredible  to  any  one  who 
had  not  seen  it  for  himself."  There  has  been  so  much 
difference  of  opinion  concerning  the  birds  mentioned  by 
Cartier  that  the  question  is  treated  in  a  separate  note. 
Cartier  was  much  impressed  by  their  number,  and 
described  them  at  unusual  length.  His  crew  were  not 
the  only  creatures  on  the  coast  who  enjoyed  such  food. 
The  bears  swam  out  to  regale  themselves,  although  the 
island  was  fourteen  leagues  from  the  mainland.  They 
saw  one  jump  into  the  water  as  they  approached.     It 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      125 

was  "  as  large  as  a  cow,  and  as  white  as  a  swan."  They 
missed  it  then,  but  the  next  day  (which  was  Whit- 
sunday) they  found  it  halfway  to  shore,  swimming  as 
fast  as  they  could  sail,  so  they  gave  chase  in  their  boats 
and  killed  it.  They  found  the  flesh  as  good  "  as  that  of 
a  two-year-old  heifer." 

On  Wednesday,  May  27,  they  arrived  at  the  entrance 
to  the  Baye  dcs  Chastcaulx,  now  known  as  the  Strait 
of  Belle-Isle.  This  must  not  be  confounded  with  our 
Chateau  Bay,  for  Cartier  distinguishes  that  as  Hahle  dcs 
Chasteaulx.  He  knew  the  place,  but  did  not  go  there. 
The  sheet  of  water  opening  thence  in  rear  of  Newfound- 
land was  afterwards  long  known  as  la  grande  baye.  The 
wind  was  contrary,  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  ice  in 
the  strait,  so  they  decided  to  enter  a  harbour  near,  called 
Rapont,  in  51°  30'  N.  lat,  where  they  remained  until 
June  9,  without  being  able  to  get  out.  This  harbour  is 
down  on  the  maps  as  Carpont,  and  is  the  Kirpon  harbour 
of  to-day.     Its  real  latitude  is  51°  35'. 

While  Cartier  was  waiting,  as  he  says  "  to  pass  on 
further  by  God's  help,"  he  must  have  examined  the 
adjacent  coast,  for  he  inserted  in  his  narrative  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  coasts  of  Newfoundland  and  Labrador,  from 
Cape  Rouge,  on  the  east  coast  of  Newfoundland,  round 
to  Brest  Harbour,  beyond  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle.  He 
had  not  spoken  of  Cape  Rouge  before.  The  locality  still 
bears  the  same  name,  and  is  found  on  our  charts.  He 
tells  us  that  the  coast  from  Cape  Rouge  to  Cape  Degrat 
lies  N.  N.  E.  and  S.  S.  W.,  and  that  it  is  the  tongue  of 
land  which  forms  the  entrance  to  "  the  bay  " ;  that  is,  to 
the  great  bay  in  the  rear  of  Newfoundland.  He  says 
that  all  that  region  consists  of  islands  closely  adjacent 
one  to  the  other,  and  that  they  are  separated  by  small 
channels,  through  which  boats  may  pass.  Here  is  the 
beginning  of  the  error  which,  for  a  hundred  years,  cut 
up,  upon  the  maps,  Newfoundland  into  small  islands. 
Kirpon  Island,  at  the  extreme  northern  point,  is  indeed 
a  small  island,  and,  in  the  channel  between  it  and  the 
main  island,  Cartier  had  taken  refuge,  but  there  are  no 


126    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

other  channels  there,  although  the  inlets  cut  in  deeply 
from  both  sides.  The  extreme  point  of  Kirpon  Island 
is  Cape  Bauld.  Cartier  speaks  of  Cape  Degrat,  a  name 
now  restricted  to  the  eastern  point  of  the  same  island. 
He  does  not  notice  Cape  Bauld,  but  took  Cape  Degrat 
for  the  characteristic  point,  which,  indeed,  it  is,  for  it  is 
the  highest  point  on  that  part  of  the  coast.  Cartier  evi- 
dently examined  the  place  closely,  for  he  tells  us  that 
from  Cape  Degrat  two  islands  opposite  Cape  Rouge  may 
be  clearly  seen.  These  are  Groix  Island  and  Bell  Island, 
forty  miles  away  to  the  south,  in  the  Atlantic,  and  the 
distance  is  over-estimated,  at  twenty-five  leagues.  Stand- 
ing on  Cape  Degrat  and  seeing  the  deep  inlets  which  eat 
into  the  land,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Cartier  supposed 
them  to  be  connected  through  by  narrow  channels  to  the 
bay  in  the  rear.  Continuing,  Cartier  describes  Kirpon 
harbour  with  much  accuracy,  giving  the  soundings  and 
noticing  the  dangers  of  both  entrances. 

Passing  on  to  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle  from  Cape  Degrat 
on  a  W.  N.  W.  course,  Cartier  noticed  two  islands  on  the 
port  side.  One  was  three  leagues  from  the  cape  and  the 
other  seven  leagues  further  on.  This  last  was  flat,  and 
it  closed  in  with  the  land.  Bishop  Howley  rightly  ob- 
serves that  there  is  no  question  here  of  Belle-Isle  Island, 
which  lay  out  of  Cartier's  course,  far  away  to  the  star- 
board side,  and,  moreover,  is  detached  in  the  ocean,  and 
consists  of  high  land.  The  first  of  Cartier's  islands  must 
be  Sacred  Island,  and  the  second  Schooner  Island  in 
Pistolet  Bay.  Here,  for  a  moment,  Cartier  forgets  his 
modest  reserve,  and  says  plainly,  "  I  named  this  island 
Saint  Catherine."  It  was  the  first  land  he  named  in  the 
New  World,  and  he  named  it  for  his  wife,  Catherine  des 
Granches ;  for  Cartier  was  attached  to  his  wife  after  the 
simple  Breton  fashion,  without  any  admixture  of 
Renaissance  manners.  His  Most  Christian  Majesty 
Francis  I.  might,  with  vast  advantage  to  himself  and 
his  kindom,  have  taken  pattern  in  this  respect  from  the 
plain  mariner  of  St.  Malo.  The  island  is  further  identi- 
fied by  Cartier's  statement  that  it  lies  N.  N.  E.  with 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      127 

Chateau  harbour,  which  is  precisely  correct,  though  the 
distance  (fifteen  leagues)  is  over-estimated. 

The  description  then  passes  to  the  Labrador  coast,  and 
taking  the  well-known  Hable  dcs  Chastcaulx  (our  Cha- 
teau Bay)  as  a  well-known  point  of  departure  (for  he 
did  not  go  there),  Cartier  refers  to  some  points  on  that 
coast  which,  as  he  correctly  says,  lie  W.  S.  W.  Distant 
twelve  and  a  half  leagues  is  the  harbour  of  Buttes 
{Hable  des  Buttes) — that  is,  of  hills  or  hillocks.  This 
beyond  doubt  is  Red  Bay ;  for  that  is  nearly  the  distance 
given,  and  it  is  described  in  the  "  St.  Lawrence  Pilot  " 
plainly  enough :  "  The  eastern  side  of  the  harbour  is 
surmounted  by  a  series  of  hillocks  from  62  to  205  feet 
high  connected  by  marshes  with  ponds  in  them."  This 
harbour  has  sometimes  been  supposed  to  be  Greenish 
Harbour ;  but  the  name  Buttes  implies  a  physical 
peculiarity  which  exists  only  at  Red  Bay.  Stearns, 
sailing  along  the  coast  in  1881,  describes  its  remarkable 
appearance  incidentally,  without  any  reference  to  Car- 
tier's  voyage — "  a  harbour  at  the  foot  of  high,  receding 
unevenly  sloped  and  gorged  hillocks  that  look  like  a 
vast  amphitheatre."  Two  leagues  further  on  Cartier 
places  Hable  de  la  Baleine  (Whale  Harbour),  which 
may  be  Carroll's  Cove,  five  miles  distant.  There  are 
several  other  harbours  in  the  next  indentation  Af  the 
coast,  shown  as  Black  Bay  on  the  maps,  but  Carroll's 
Cove  is  at  the  given  distance,  and  the  name  Whale 
Harbour  is  not  descriptive. 

Some  defect  or  obscurity  must  have  existed  in  the 
first  copy  at  this  point,  for  two  blanks  occur  here  in  the 
"  Relation  Originale."  The  distance  between  the  Hable 
de  la  Baleine  and  Blanc  Sablon  is  left  out.  Hakluyt 
gives  fifteen,  and  Petit- Val  twenty-five  leagues,  but  the 
locality  of  Blanc  Sablon  is,  fortunately,  well  known. 
The  three  or  four  lines  which  have  puzzled  so  many 
have  been  explained  in  a  satisfactory  way.  Cartier  did 
not  stay  at  any  of  these  places  along  the  coast,  and  when 
sailing  abreast  of  Hable  de  la  Baleine  at  a  distance  from 
land  of  one-third  of  the  main  strait  he  sounded  and,  at 


128    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

38  fathoms,  found  bottom  "  taygnay,"  meaning  a  bottom 
of  rocks  covered  with  sea-weed.  The  word  is  used 
several  times  by  Cartier  in  giving  the  results  of  his 
soundings.  It  is  a  sailor's  word,  and  is  not  found 
in  the  ordinary  dictionaries,  but  may  be  referred  to 
tcii^nc — strangle  weed.  Hakluyt  skips  it,  and  Petit- Val 
changes  it  to  fond  a  plomb,  which  does  not  help.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  soundings  in  the  strait  in  that  locality 
are  from  30  to  40  fathoms  and  the  bottom  is  stony  or 
rocky.  Continuing  west-south-west  along  the  coast  is 
Blanc  Sablon  (White  Sands)  ;  a  place  well  known  then, 
and  one  which  has  retained  its  name.  It  is  the  boundary 
between  the  province  of  Quebec  and  that  part  of  the 
Labrador  coast  which  belongs  to  the  Government  of 
Newfoundland.  The  Canadian  custom  house  is  there, 
and  it  has  been  from  the  earliest  times,  and  still  is,  an 
important  fishing  station. 

Cartier  was  an  observant  navigator,  and  records  all 
the  dangers  to  ships  in  making  the  port  of  Blanc  Sablon. 
He  notices  the  two  islands  which  form  the  harbour. 
One  of  them.  Isle  de  Bouays  (Wood  Island)  retains 
its  name.  The  other  is  now  called  Greenly  Island.  It 
was,  to  Cartier,  another  Isle  des  Otiaiseaulx,  the  home 
of  innumerable  "  godez,"  and  of  "  richars,"  with  red 
beaks  and  feet,  which  burrowed  like  rabbits.  Doubling 
a  cape  (Long  Point,  also  called  Grand  Point)  a  league 
from  Blanc  Sablon  he  entered  a  harbour  which,  in  his 
time,  was  called  Les  Islettes  (Bradore  Bay) — a  better 
harbour  than  the  last,  and  one  where,  he  says,  a  great 
deal  of  fishing  is  carried  on.  Ten  leagues  further  on 
was  a  harbour  called  Brest;  the  latitude  is  given  at  51° 
40'  (or  55',  the  MS.  is  uncertain;  it  is  really  51°  25'), 
and  there  are  islands  all  the  way  to  it.  Brest  itself  is 
an  island,  and  for  three  leagues  out  all  the  coast  is  ranged 
for  more  than  twelve  leagues  with  low  islands  over 
which  the  high  mainland  appears.  Cartier  entered 
the  harbour  of  Brest  on  June  10,  to  take  in  wood  and 
water,  and  to  prepare  for  the  exploration  of  the  new 
region    he    was    entering    upon.     There    the    digressive 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      129 

description  of  the  coast  ends,  and  he  resumes  his 
diary  or  log.  All  his  distances  and  directions  are  in 
the  main  correct  and  his  descriptions  are  clear  and 
accurate. 

This  harbour  of  Brest  was  the  terminus  of  the  pre- 
viously discovered  and  named  coast — named  doubtless 
by  the  Breton  fishermen  who  resorted  thither  in  summer. 
As  the  business  grew  and  the  place  became  better  known 
temporary  structures  may  have  been  erected ;  but  none 
such  were  there  in  Cartier's  time,  nor  were  there  any 
residents  for  150  years  later.  Nevertheless  a  story  has 
crept  into  the  books,  of  a  town  founded  there  100  years 
before  Quebec,  with  200  houses,  1000  permanent  inhab- 
itants and  a  resident  governor.  The  whole  story  is  a 
myth,  with  less  foundation  than  the  mythical  city  of 
Norumbegue.  In  Brest  harbour  Cartier  left  his  vessels 
at  anchor  and,  on  June  11,  commenced  an  exploration 
westwards  in  his  boats.  They  passed  for  ten  leagues 
along  a  coast  studded  with  innumerable  islands,  and 
camped  for  the  night  on  one  of  the  islands,  where  they 
found  a  great  quantity  of  eggs  of  ducks  and  other  birds. 
This  range  of  coast  was  called  Toiites  Isles. 

On  the  1 2th  of  June,  having  got  through  most  of  the 
islands,  they  reached  a  harbour  which  was  named  St. 
Anthony.  The  13th  was  the  feast  of  St.  Anthony  of 
Padua,  and,  though  he  does  not  say  so  in  express  terms, 
Cartier  must  have  given  the  name.  It  is  now  known  as 
Rocky  Bay.  A  league  or  two  further  he  entered  a 
harbour  very  deep — that  is,  running  far  into  the  land. 
There  can  be  no  mistake  about  this  locality,  for  the 
physical  characteristics  recorded  by  Cartier  identify  it 
with  Lobster  Bay.  The  "  St.  Lawrence  Pilot  "  describes 
it  as  a  narrow  inlet  between  steep  shores,  extending  four 
and  a  half  miles  to  the  northeast.  Cartier  notices  a  small 
island  about  a  league  to  the  southwest,  as  round  as  an 
oven.  This  is  now  known  as  the  Boulet,  and  the  "  St. 
Lawrence  Pilot "  describes  it  as  a  smooth,  round  islet  in 
the  position  indicated  by  Cartier.  He  named  the  place 
St.  Servan,  after  an  important  suburb  of  St.  Malo,  and 


130    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

there  he  erected  a  cross.     Here  occurs  one  of  the  very 
few  instances  where  the  translations  are  of  assistance  in 
correcting  the  error  of  a  copyist.     They  concur  in  giving 
the  distance  at  two  leagues  (instead  of  ten  leagues,  as  in 
the  "  Relation  Originale  ")  to  the  next  harbour— a  large 
harbour   which    Cartier   called   the    River    St.   Jacques, 
without   doubt    Shecatica   Bay;   and   here   occurred    an 
incident  which  proves  that  Cartier  was  not  the  discov- 
erer of  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle,  and  that  before  1534  it 
was  a  resort  of  French  fishing  vessels.     He  met  there  a 
large  vessel  from  La  Rochelle,  which  had  come  out  to 
fish,  and  had  been  looking  for  Brest   (evidently  a  har- 
bour known  to  the  crew),  but  having  passed  it  in  the 
night   they   did    not    know    where    they    were.     Cartier 
boarded  the  vessel  and  took  her  into  another  harbour 
now  called  Cumberland  harbour,  one  league  further  to 
the  west :  which,  adds  Cartier,  "  I  consider  to  be  one  of 
the  good  harbours  of  the  world,  and  it  was  called  the 
harbour    Jacques    Cartier."     In    this    the    Breton    sailor 
anticipates  the  judgment  of  the  Admiralty  Pilot,  which 
pronounces  it  to  be  "  the  best  and  easiest  of  access  on  the 
coast."     It  is  apropos  of  this  harbour  that  Cartier  pro- 
nounces the  unqualified  condemnation  of  the  Labrador 
coast  which  has  been  quoted  at  page  24.     The  practical 
eye  of  the  explorer  was  not  content  with   atmospheric 
effects  of  craggy  hills  and  rocky  shores  sharply  defined 
in  the  clear  northern  air  or  clothed  with  tender  purple 
by   the   setting   sun.     What   impressed   itself   upon   his 
mind,   and   what,   in   his   terse   and   vigorous   style,   he 
reported   was  that   "  while   harbours   were   plenty   there 
was  not  one  cartload  of  earth  on  the  whole  stretch  of 
coast."     This   was   inside   the   Strait   of   Belle-Isle,   for 
Cartier    did    not    go    north ;    he    turned    abruptly    west 
round  the  head  of  Newfoundland,  into  the  strait,  without 
even  going  near  Belle-Isle   Island.     What  w^ould   have 
been  his  report  of  the  grim  rampart  north  of  the  strait 
battered  for  long  ages  by  the  surges  of  two  thousand 
miles  of  the  stormiest  ocean  on  the  globe? 

'Ihis  was  the  terminus  of  Cartier's  exploration  on  the 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      131 

Labrador  coast.  The  boats  returned  to  Brest  harbour, 
where  in  the  meantime  his  ships  had  been  making  prepa- 
rations for  entering  upon  the  unknown  regions  beyond. 
He  gives  a  short  description  of  the  natives  he  met ;  from 
which  it  clearly  appears  that  they  were  not  Esquimaux, 
and  had  come  from  a  more  southern  country  for  seal 
fishing.  They  were  doubtless  of  some  Montagnais 
tribe  of  Algonquin  stock.  On  Monday,  15th,  they  set 
sail  and  steered  southward  across  the  bay  to  examine 
a  country  which  had  caught  their  attention,  and  when 
first  seen  from  across  the  bay  had  the  appearance  of  two 
islands. 

The  west  coast  of  Newfoundland,  towards  which  Car- 
tier  now  sailed,  is  bordered  by  a  range  of  mountains 
from  1900  to  2000  feet  high,  running  from  Cape 
Anguille  on  the  south  to  beyond  Cape  Riche,  where  they 
commence  to  lower  as  they  stretch  northwards.  As 
they  drew  near  the  middle  of  the  bay  they  saw  that  what 
they  had  taken  for  two  islands  was  a  double  cape  on  the 
mainland — one  point  rising  above  the  other.  Their 
course  had  been  south  and  the  distance  was  about  twenty 
leagues,  which  brought  them  to  Cape  Riche.  The  High- 
lands of  St.  John  rise  in  rear  of  the  cape  to  two  points, 
respectively  1500  and  1600  feet.  They  named  the  spot 
Cap  Double.  The  trend  of  the  coast  Cartier  gives  as 
N.  N.  E.  and  S.  S.  W.,  and  he  observed  the  belt  of  low 
land  between  the  mountains  and  the  sea,  all  which  char- 
acteristics appear  on  the  admiralty  charts  to-day.  All 
the  next  day  they  sailed  along  the  coast  for  about  thirty- 
five  leagues.  The  mountains  were  high  and  formidable, 
with  cloven  and  craggy  outlines — among  them  was  one 
which  had  the  appearance  of  a  granche  (old  French  for 
grange  or  farm  building) — for  which  reason  they  called 
the  whole  range  the  Granches  Mountains,  all  the  more 
willingly,  perhaps,  because  Cartier's  wife's  family  name 
was  des  Granches.  As  night  drew  in  they  saw  obscurely 
through  the  gathering  mists  an  opening  in  the  hills,  as 
if  of  a  river  mouth,  and  a  cape  three  leagues  away,  which 
they    called    Cap   Pointu.     It    is    now    known   as    Cow 


132    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Head,  and  is  identified  by  the  low,  flat  island  (Stearing 
Island)  three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  north  of  it.  Car- 
tier  wished  to  examine  the  land  more  closely  by  daylight 
and  the  ships  shortened  sail  for  the  night. 

And  now  the  Gulf  began  to  show  another  of  its  phases. 
A  northeast  storm  broke  upon  them  and  they  took  in 
all  but  the  mainsail  and  lay  to  the  wind,  but  were  driven 
to  the  southwest  for  thirty-seven  leagues  until  Thursday 
morning  (i8th),  when  they  found  themselves  abreast  of 
a  bay  full  of  islands  (Bay  of  Islands) — they  called  the 
islands  Ics  Conlonhicrs  because  of  their  shape  and 
the  bay  St.  Julian.  There  can  be  no  mistake  about  the 
locality;  the  high  and  steep  islands  occur  nowhere  else 
on  the  coast.  Seven  leagues  further  Cartier  notes 
another  cape,  which  he  called  Cap  Royal.  It  is  a  very 
conspicuous  headland  1200  feet  high,  now  called  Bear 
Head.  Without  giving  the  distance  he  next  mentions 
a  cape  W.  S.  W.  of  Cape  Royal,  which  he  called  Cap 
Dclattc,  about  which  there  has  been  doubt.  The  name 
in  Petit-X^al's  version  is  Cap  de  Laict;  Hakluyt  has  it 
Cape  of  Milk,  but  it  is  Delatte  in  the  "  Relation  Origi- 
nale."  There  is  a  Poinfe  de  la  Latfe  in  the  English  Chan- 
nel near  Brest.  The  name  has  nothing  to  do  with  milk ; 
it  is  a  marine  term  for  a  particular  kind  of  thin,  narrow 
beam.  The  word  exists  in  England  as  lath:  Italian,  latta, 
and  is  of  Teutonic  origin.  Some  peculiarity  of  shape  sug- 
gested the  name.  The  description,  when  followed  closely, 
will  identify  it  with  Cape  Cormorant,  a  perpendicular 
limestone  cliff  rising  700  feet,  and  then  sloping  up  to  a 
conical  top  268  feet  higher.  Red  Island  is  a  mile  north- 
v.est  of  it  and  marks  the  locality.  It  is  290  feet  above 
the  sea,  and  would  not  be  called  low,  excepting  relatively 
to  the  lofty  cape  in  juxtaposition  to  it.  Cartier  describes 
it  as  a  headland  eaten  away  at  the  base  and  round  at  the 
summit,  with  a  low  island  to  the  north.  He  describes 
the  land  between  these  two  capes  as  low,  with  high 
lands  behind  it  and  an  appearance  as  if  there  were 
rivers  within,  all  perfectly  in  accordance  with  the 
present  charts.     What  he  saw  was  the  long  spit  which 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      133 

makes  the  sea  face  of  Port  au  Port.  He  describes  it 
as  a  wonderful  place  for  cod  fishing,  which  is  still 
the  case,  and  while  waiting  for  their  consort  they  took 
more  than  one  hundred  large  codfish  in  less  than  an 
hour. 

The  Gulf  did  not  cease  to  show  its  teeth ;  for  on  the 
following  day  (i8th)  the  wind  was  contrary,  and  it 
blew  very  heavily,  so  that  Cartier  turned  back  to  Cape 
Royal  seeking  a  shelter  harbour.  He  searched  with 
the  boats,  and,  between  Cape  Royal  and  Cape  De- 
latte  they  found  what  is  now  called  Port  au  Port, 
which  Cartier  describes  in  his  usual  accurate  manner. 
It  is,  he  says,  a  great  deep  bay  with  islands  enclosed 
towards  the  south  by  low  lands,  with  flats  which  extend 
beyond  them  and  shut  in  the  bay  on  one  side  while  Cape 
Royal  closes  in  on  the  other.  There  is  an  island  in  the 
middle  of  the  entrance  to  the  bay  (Fox  Island),  and 
the  anchorage  is  bad.  The  "  Admiralty  Pilot  "  confirms 
Cartier's  quick  judgment:  "  Port  au  Port  cannot  be  con- 
sidered to  afiford  secure  anchorage  round  any  of  its 
shores,  although  the  bottom  is  generally  mud."  So  Car- 
tier,  rather  than  trust  his  ships  there,  put  to  sea  for  the 
night,  and  from  that  time  until  the  24th  there  was  a  con- 
tinued heavy  storm,  with  contrary  wind,  and  the  weather 
so  thick  that  he  did  not  once  get  a  sight  of  land.  On  St. 
John  the  Baptist's  day  (24th)  they  saw  a  cape  to  the 
southeast  which  they  judged  to  be  thirty-five  leagues 
from  Cape  Royal.  They  were  very  nearly  right.  It 
was  Cape  Anguille — a  bold  headland  1700  feet  high,  the 
projecting  spur  of  a  range  of  mountains  in  rear.  They 
called  it  Cape  St.  John,  but  the  weather  was  too  rough 
to  permit  approach. 

The  weather  the  next  day,  25th,  was  equally  bad,  with 
high  wind  and  fog.  For  a  part  of  the  day  they  ran 
W.  N.  W.  and  toward  night  they  hove  to  until  the  second 
watch,  when  they  again  set  sail.  They  judged  that  they 
were  seventeen  leagues  and  a  half  northwest  by  west 
of  Cape  St.  John.  When  they  set  sail  the  wind  was 
from  the  northwest,  and  they  ran  southwest  for  fifteen 


134    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

leag-ues,  when  they  discovered  three  islands.  These  were 
the  Bird  Rocks,  for  Cartier  counted  in  a  little  rock  which 
he  saw  between  the  two.  This  has  now  disappeared,  but 
a  patch  of  breakers  still  shows  its  position.  The  two 
islands  were  as  steep  as  walls,  and  it  was  not  possible 
to  climb  them.  They  were  "  as  full  of  birds  as  a 
meadow  is  of  grass."  The  larger  one  was  full  of  mar- 
gaux.  It  is  now  called  the  Great  Bird ;  it  is  to  the  south- 
east and  is  105  feet  high.  The  other — the  North  Bird — 
was  full  of  "  godez "  and  "  apponats."  The  disputed 
question  of  the  species  of  birds  found  is  treated  in  a 
separate  note,  only  remarking  here  that  the  sailors 
managed  to  get  on  the  lower  ledge  of  the  North  Bird, 
for  there  is  no  proper  shore,  and  killed  in  a  short  time 
more  than  a  thousand  of  "  godez "  and  "  apponats." 
They  filled  their  boats  with  them,  and  in  an  hour's  time 
they  might  have  filled  thirty  such  boats.  Cartier  named 
the  group  Isles  de  Margaiilx,  and  that  name,  or  a  syn- 


Fig.  9.  The  Great  Bird  Rock,  from  an  Admiralty  Chart 

onym  of  it,  it  has  ever  since  retained.  Five  leagues 
to  the  westward  was  another  island,  which  he  named 
Brion  Island,  after  his  patron,  Philippe  de  Chabot,  Sieur 
de  Brion,  and  Admiral  of  France.  The  name  still  sur- 
vives, though  some  English  maps  absurdly  call  it  Byron 
Island.  Cartier  lay  there  all  night  to  procure  wood 
and  water.  There  is  a  good  roadstead  east  of  the 
island,  which  he  found  without  the  aid  of  sailing  direc- 
tions. He  notes  with  his  usual  correctness  that  the 
soundings  round  the  island  are  six  or  seven  fathoms. 
He  was  pleased  with  it  after  his  experiences  on  the 
Labrador  coast,  and  records  in  his  terse  way  his  opinion 
that  one  arpent  of  it  was  worth  the  whole  of  the  Terre 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      135 

Neuve.  He  pauses  to  describe  it,  and  almost  waxes 
eloquent.  There  was  a  sandy  beach  all  round  it,  it  was 
full  of  fine  trees,  prairies,  fields  of  wild  corn,  and  of  peas 
in  flower  as  thick  and  as  fine  as  any  he  ever  saw  in 
Bretagne,  and  in  appearance  as  if  they  had  been  sown. 
There  were  in  abundance  gooseberries,  strawberries,  and 
Provence  roses ;  parsley  and  other  plants  pleasant  to 
smell.  Brion  Island  does  not  seem  such  a  paradise  in 
the  present  day,  but  to  Cartier,  who  had  been  coasting 
along  Labrador  and  northern  Newfoundland,  it  was 
delightful  by  contrast.  Here  also  he  had  a  new  expe- 
rience, for  there  was  around  the  island  a  number  of 
"  beasts  like  large  oxen,  which  had  two  tusks  in  their 
mouths  like  elephants."  The  Gulf  abounded  in  those 
days  with  walruses,  and  Cartier  met  them  first  here,  in 
their  favourite  haunt,  the  Magdalen  Islands.  They  were 
hunted  to  extermination  in  after  years,  not  only  there, 
but  all  over  the  Gulf.  A  few  were  seen  on  the  Mag- 
dalens  and  Anticosti  as  late  as  1775.  Cartier's  sailors 
found  one  asleep  on  the  shore  and  tried  to  take  it,  but 
it  jumped  into  the  sea.  Then  follows  a  remark  which 
shows  that  the  Gulf  was  unknown  previous  to  his  voy- 
age. Cartier  recognised  that  he  had  got  in  between 
Newfoundland  and  the  continent ;  but  was  it  a  penin- 
sula or  an  island?  He  says:  "  I  think  more  than  I  did 
before  from  what  I  have  seen  that  there  may  be  some 
passage  between  the  Terre  Neuve  (Newfoundland) 
and  la  Terre  des  Bretons  (Cape  Breton).  If  so  it  would 
shorten,  not  only  in  length,  but  in  time,  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  voyage."  The  passage  is  now  called  Cabot 
Strait,  but  not  until  on  his  return  from  his  second  voyage 
did  Cartier  pass  through  it. 

Cartier  lingered  for  a  day  at  Brion  Island,  and  on  the 
26th  of  June  he  passed  on  to  a  cape  four  leagues  distant, 
which  he  named  after  the  Dauphin — a  name  of  special 
honour  "  because  it  was  the  beginning  of  good  land." 
It  was  North  Cape  of  the  Great  Magdalen  Island,,  and 
all  the  27th  he  sailed  along  the  west  coast  outside  the 
island,  for  the  wind,  which  was  evidently  westerly,  threw 


136    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

a  heavy  surf  on  the  shore  and  he  could  not  land.  But 
he  could  see  the  island  in  the  clear  weather,  and  he 
described  it  as  low  and  sandy,  with  hills  of  sand.  With- 
out a  careful  study  of  this  group  of  islands  on  a  large 


Fig.  10.  The  Magdalen  Group— The  Key  to  the  Gulf 
True  shape,   from  an  Admiralty  Chart 

Scale  map  it  will  be  impossible  to  understand,  not  only 
Carticr's  voyages,  but  all  the  voyages  during  the  next 
hundred  years.  The  Great  Magdalen  is  the  key  of  the 
(iulf,  and  every  ship  bound  to  the  St.  Lawrence  passes 
in  sight  of  one  of  the  group  around  it.  The  main 
Magdalen,  although  at  a  distance  it  appears  to  be  several 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      137 

hilly  islands,  is  really  one  long  island,  lying,  as  Cartier 
says,  E.  N.  E.,  for  the  hills  are  connected  by  a  double 
line  of  low  sand  bars  enclosing  large  lagoons  opening 
at  high  tide  by  narrow  channels  to  the  sea.  It  lies  in  a 
curved,  or  rather  bracket-like,  shape,  hollow  towards  the 
southeast.  In  the  mouth  of  the  bracket  is  a  detached 
island  (Entry  Island),  and  west  of  the  southwest  elbow 
of  the  bracket  is  another  (Deadman's  Island).  These 
peculiar  characteristics  stand  out  on  the  most  archaic 
maps,  and  the  three  little  islands  adjacent  to  the  north 
add  to  the  certainty  of  identification.  The  names  also 
point  them  out.  That  of  the  large  island  may  always 
be  translated  "  isle  of  sand,"  for  it  is  in  French  maps 
isle  d'arenes,  and  in  Portuguese  maps  y  de  Sabloen 
or  Sahloes,  or  sometimes  dorean,  a  corruption  of 
d'arenes.  This  point  being  fixed,  the  early  geography 
of  the  Gulf  is  clear.  From  this  point  the  expositors  of 
Cartier's  route  dififer  radically,  and  until  Ganong's  study 
(in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada 
for  1887)  the  subject  was  hopelessly  confused.  All  day 
Cartier  sailed  along  the  west  side  of  the  Great  Magda- 
len, and  the  next  day  (28th)  he  sailed  for  ten  leagues 
along  the  south  coast  until  he  came  to  a  wave-eaten  cape 
of  red  land,  and  inside  of  it  was  a  bay  (Pleasant  Bay) 
looking  northward  to  low  land.  The  cape  is  easily 
identified  as  Entry  Island.  Opposite  to  this  cape  at  a 
distance  of  about  four  leagues  there  was  another 
cape — the  hill  (550  feet)  of  Grindstone  Island,  and 
between  these  two  points  the  land  was  ranged  round  in 
a  semicircle  of  sandy  beach  enclosing,  as  far  as  he  could 
see,  a  sort  of  marsh  or  lake  (etang).  This  view  is  sup- 
posed to  be  from  Entry  Island,  the  first  cape.  Opposite 
was  Grindstone  Island,  the  second  cape,  and  from  it,  five 
leagues,  or  twelve  and  a  half  miles,  to  the  southwest  was 
a  very  high  pointed  island,  which  he  named  Alezay. 
Entry  Island  he  called  St.  Pierre,  for  the  29th  was  St, 
Peter  and  St.  Paul's  day.  Alezay  is  identified  by  its 
shape  (see  cut).  It  was  Deadman's  Island,  described 
in  the  "  Admiralty  Pilot "  as  "  170  feet  high,  with  steeply 


138    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

sloping  sides  meeting  at  the  summit  like  a  prism."  The 
maps  all  show  it  in  its  place  with  its  name,  as,  for 
instance,  the  Dauphin  map  (see  cut),  where  Entry- 
Island  is  given,  looking  inward  over  the  bay,  and 
Alezay  named  to  the  southwest,  as  described.  Cartier 
hove  to  and  examined  the  place  closely,  and  gives  the 
soundings  and  the  kind  of  bottom. 

The  wind  changed  to  S.  S.  W.  on  the  29th  and 
they  left  the  Magdalens,  sailing  westward,  and  until  mid- 
day of  the  30th  they  saw  no  land.  After  the  sun  turned, 
however,  they  saw  to  the  W.  S.  W.,  about  nine  or  ten 
leagues  off,  what  seemed  to  be  two  islands.  They  were 
coming  upon  the  north  shore  of  Prince  Edward  Island, 
which  is  very  low,  and  they  had  caught  sight  of  two  corn- 


Fig.   II.  Deadman's  Island,  from  an  Admiralty  Chart 

paratively  high  points,  Cape  Tryon  and  Cape  Turner. 
The  capes  are  not  over  120  feet  high,  but  are  the  highest 
land  on  the  coast,  and  rise  first  out  of  the  water.  As  they 
sailed  along  they  saw  that  the  country  was  a  continuous 
mainland  to  a  cape  which  they  saw  in  the  distance,  and 
named  Cap  d'Orlcans — Cape  Kildare  of  our  maps. 
They  continued  coasting  until  the  morning  of  the  follow- 
ing day,  July  i,  when  a  fog  set  in  and  they  lowered 
their  sails,  for  Cartier  was  anxious  to  examine  the  land. 
At  10  a.  m.  the  fog  lifted  and  they  saw  Cap  d'Orlcans 
close,  and,  further  on,  another  cape  (North  Cape),  which 
they  called  Cap  dcs  Saiivagcs.  Their  boats  were  got  out 
and  landings  were  made  in  several  places.  Cartier 
describes  the  country  as  a  low,  level  land  as  beautiful  as 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      139 

could  be  seen,  with  fine  trees  and  meadows,  but  not  a 
harbour,  and  the  coast  ranged  along  with  sandbars. 
The  description  of  the  north  coast  of  the  garden  province 
of  the  Dominion  could  not  be  more  accurate. 

Among  the  places  he  saw,  Cartier  specially  mentions 
one  which  he  named  the  River  of  Boats  (Ripuiere  de 
Barcqucs).     He  said  it  was  a  fine  river,  but  shallow, 


Fig.  12.  Representations  of  the  Magdalen  Group  on  early  maps. 
I.  Correct  outline  for  comparison.  2.  Dauphin  or  Henry  II. 
Map,  1546.  3.  Homem's  Map,  1558.  4.  Mercator's  Map,  1569. 
5.  Sebastian  Cabot's  Map,  1544.  6.  Vallard  Map,  1543.  7. 
Rotz  Globe,  1543.    8.  Hakluyt's  Map,  1600. 

and  in  several  places  he  saw  the  natives  in  boats.  He 
did  not  communicate  with  them,  for  the  wind  rose  from 
the  sea  and  he  had  to  hurry  back  to  the  ship.  The 
place  is  now  known  as  Richmond  or  Malpeque  Bay,  and 
has  always  been  frequented  by  the  Indians,  for  there  is 
a  portage  on  its  southern  shore,  barely  two  miles  across, 
by  which  they  pass  from  Northumberland  Strait  to  the 
Gulf.     It  is  the   narrowest   spot  of   the   whole   island. 


I40    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Cap  des  Sauvages  is  described  in  a  few  words.  The 
Breton  sailor  noted  that  off  it  there  are  a  reef  and  a 
dangerous  bank  of  stones.  The  Admiralty  Pilot  gives 
the  same  report.  Here  an  Indian  came  running  along 
shore  making  signs,  but  he  had  not  courage  enough  to 
wait  until  they  went  ashore,  so  they  left  him  a  knife  and 
a  piece  of  cloth  tied  to  a  stick  and  went  on.  They 
examined  the  west  coast  very  carefully,  but  found  no 
harbour.  Cartier  is  enthusiastic  in  praise  of  the  country. 
The  trees  were  marvellously  beautiful  and  pleasant  in 
odour — cedars,  pines,  yews,  white  elms,  ash  trees,  wil- 
lows, and  others  unknown.  Where  the  land  was  clear 
of  trees  it  was  good,  and  abounded  in  red  and  white 
gooseberries,  peas,  strawberries,  raspberries,  and  wild 
corn,  like  rye,  having  almost  the  appearance  of  cultiva- 
tion. The  climate  was  most  pleasant  and  warm.  There 
were  doves  and  pigeons  and  many  other  birds.  In  short, 
Cartier  thought  that  if  the  country  only  possessed  a 
few  harbours  it  would  be  perfect.  He  had  touched 
Prince  Edward  Island  at  a  bad  spot,  for  there  is  not  a 
harbour  for  thirty-three  miles  from  North  Point  round 
to  Egmont  Bay. 

Cartier  had  no  idea  that  he  had  to  do  with  an  island, 
and  as  he  sailed  round  North  Cape  and  passed  the  west 
shore  he  saw  before  him  the  land  to  the  east  closing  in 
to  form  a  great  bay.  It  was  the  projecting  point  of 
Nova  Scotia,  on  the  south,  interlocking  with  the  capes 
on  the  north.  This  part  of  the  voyage  was  a  stumbling 
block  to  all  commentators,  and,  although  the  appearance 
which  deceived  Cartier  may  be  seen  by  any  tourist  who 
crosses  from  Shediac  in  New  Brunswick  to  Summer- 
side,  Ganong  was  the  first  to  apply  it  to  elucidate  the 
question.  This  apparent  bay  Cartier  named  the  Bay  of 
St.  Lunario,  from  Leonarius,  a  Breton  saint  of  early 
times.  It  continued  upon  the  maps  for  a  hundred  years 
longer,  until  what  is  now  Prince  Edward  Island  was 
recognised  as  an  island,  and  called  the  Island  of  St. 
John.  Seeing,  as  he  supposed,  the  land  thus  closed 
before  him,  to  the  cast,  Cartier  turned,  on  July  2,  to  a 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      141 

land  he  saw  at  the  north,  which  appeared  to  him  to  be 
continuous  with  the  other  and  went,  in  his  boats,  to 
examine  it.  His  description  is  accurate — a  cape 
(Escuminac)  of  low  land  with  shallow  water  in  the 
offing;  at  the  northeast  another  cape,  and  between  the 
two  a  triangular  bay  running  far  into  the  land ;  a 
level  country  with  sandy  shores,  and,  as  far  out  as  ten 
leagues  only  twenty  fathoms  of  water.  What  he  saw 
was  the  coast  of  New  Brunswick,  and  the  remarkable 
triangular  bay  was  Miramichi  Bay,  with  its  two  low 
headlands. 

The  land  stretched  away  to  the  north,  one  cape  after 
another.  The  wind  rose  and  the  weather  grew  bad 
toward  night,  so  that  they  had  to  lie  to  until  the  morning 
of  July  3,  when  the  wind  came  from  the  west  and  they 
made  sail  to  the  north ;  for  they  saw  over  the  low  head- 
land (Miscou)  high  lands  to  the  N.  N.  W.,  and  they 
found  between  the  low  cape  to  the  south  and  the  moun- 
tains to  the  north  a  great  bay,  fifteen  leagues  across, 
with  fifty-five  fathoms  of  water.  The  whole  passage 
is  as  correct  as  if  it  had  been  an  abstract  from  a  modern 
book  of  sailing  directions.  The  low  cape  at  the  south 
was  Miscou,  the  high  lands  were  the  Gaspe  Mountains, 
and  between,  stretching  westward  to  an  unknown  dis- 
tance, were  the  bright  waters  of  Chaleur  Bay,  blue  under 
the  clear,  sunny  sky,  and  the  hope  rose  within  them 
that  here  was  the  long  looked  for  passage.  The  warm 
sun  and  the  balmy  weather  quickened  their  anticipations 
almost  to  certainty,  therefore  they  called  the  southern 
point  Cape  d'Esperance — Hope  Cape.  It  was  a  golden 
dream,  but  the  sequence  was  leaden,  for  the  name  was, 
in  the  lapse  of  years,  unconsciously  transferred  to  the 
north  shore,  just  opposite,  where  it  still  mocks  Cartier's 
hopes  as  Cape  Despair,  the  English  corruption  of  Cap 
d'Espoir. 

Cartier  describes  the  bay  with  his  usual  accuracy. 
His  grammar  may  be  faulty  and  his  vocabularly  nautical, 
but  those  who  know  the  localities  can  see  them  again  in 
his  terse  descriptions.    He  named  it  la  Baye  de  Chaleur, 


142    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

because  he  found  it  as  warm  there  as  in  Spain.  He 
describes  the  New  Brunswick  side  as  a  beautiful  open 
country  with  arable  land  and  meadows  as  fine  as  he  had 
ever  seen,  and  level  as  a  lake.  The  Gaspe  side  was 
lofty,  with  mountains  densely  clothed  with  forests, 
among-  them  cedars  and  firs  of  great  size,  fit  for  masts 
of  ships  of  more  than  three  hundred  tons.  Only  in  one 
or  two  places  was  the  land  clear  of  trees,  and  there  it 
was  low,  with  fine  ponds  (etangs).  The  latitude  of  the 
middle  of  the  bay  he  fixes  at  47°  30'  N.,  about  twenty 
miles  too  far  south,  and  the  longitude  at  73°  W.,  which, 
taking  Ferro  as  the  prime  meridian,  is  25°  40'  too  far 
west.  It  is  impossible  to  guess  how  he  arrived  at  that 
longitude,  but  it  was  probably  worked  out  after  his 
return,  perhaps  by  someone  else,  for  in  other  places  the 
longitude  is  left  blank.  This  instance  shows  how  little 
dependence  is  to  be  placed  on  the  longitudes  of  early 
explorers. 

The  4th  of  July,  Cartier  says,  was  St.  Martin's 
day,  and  although  in  the  Roman  Breviary  that  saint  is 
commemorated  at  Martinmas,  November  11,  there  still 
survives  in  the  Anglican  calendar  a  festival  of  the 
"  translation  of  Martin,"  on  July  4,  indicating  some 
pecularity  in  the  devotion  of  St.  Martin  in  those  days 
common  to  Britain  and  Bretagne.  Cartier  sailed  along  the 
Gaspe  coast  westward,  looking  for  a  harbour,  and  he 
found  on  that  day  la  couche  St.  Martin,  now  Port  Daniel. 
There  the  vessels  lay  from  the  4th  to  the  12th  of  July, 
while  the  boats  went  further  up  the  bay  to  explore. 
They  went  to  the  extreme  end  of  the  bay,  and  found 
that  it  ended  in  low  lands  with  high  mountains  in  rear, 
and,  to  their  great  disappointment,  that  there  was  no 
passage  through. 

While  examining  the  coast  from  Port  Daniel  they 
came  into  contact  with  the  natives.  Chaleur  Bay  was 
the  debatable  region  between  the  Indians  of  Canada  and 
the  Micmac  tribes  of  Acadia.  One  of  the  boats  met 
some  canoes,  and  saw  a  large  number  of  savages  on  the 
shores,  who  made  signs  to  them  to  land,  but  being  few  in 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      143 

number  the  French  turned  away.  The  savages  quickly 
got  out  seven  canoes  and  tried  to  surround  the  boat, 
and  did  not  desist  until  the  French  had  fired  two  or 
three  shots.  The  next  morning  the  savages  came  in 
their  canoes  to  where  the  vessels  were  anchored,  and 
after  a  little  while  confidence  was  established  and  the 
Indians  gave  the  strangers  a  hearty  welcome,  with  much 
dancing  and  singing.  Cartier  formed  an  opinion  that 
they  would  be  easy  to  convert  to  the  Christian  religion, 
but  his  reasons  are  not  on  record. 

Disappointed  in  their  search,  they  made  sail  July  12, 
and  followed  about  eighteen  leagues  along  the  Gaspe 
shore  and  came  to  a  point  (White  Head),  which  Cartier 
called  Cape  Pratto.  The  weather  began  to  threaten,  and 
they  got  shelter  between  the  land  and  an  island  (Bon- 
aventure  Island)  one  league  to  the  east  of  it.  There 
they  anchored  safely  for  the  night,  but  they  found  strong 
currents  and  a  heavy  sea.  The  next  morning  they  made 
sail  again,  but  had  to  return  to  the  same  shelter  for  the 
night.  Starting  again  the  following  day  they  pushed 
along  the  coast,  five  or  six  leagues,  when  they  came 
abreast  of  a  river  (Gaspe  Bay),  where  they  anchored 
until  the  i6th.  Then  the  wind  rose  so  high  that  one  of 
the  ships  lost  her  anchor,  and  they  were  forced  to  go 
further  up  into  a  good  and  safe  harbour,  which  their 
boats  had  discovered.  There,  in  Gaspe  basin,  the  finest 
shelter  on  the  coast,  they  remained  until  July  25,  and, 
strange  to  say,  Cartier  did  not  give  it  a  name.  At  the 
entrance  of  the  basin  he  erected  a  cross,  with  an  escutch- 
eon, on  which  were  three  fleur-de-lis,  and,  in  large 
letters,  "  Vive  le  Roy  de  France." 

At  Gaspe  Cartier  met  a  great  number  of  Indians,  who 
had  come  down  the  River  St.  Lawrence  from  about 
Quebec  for  the  mackerel  fishery.  He  recognised  that 
they  differed  both  in  nature  and  in  language  from  the 
Indians  he  had  previously  seen.  They  were  the  first  he 
met  of  the  Huron-Iroquois  stock.  They  came  freely 
and  frankly  to  visit  the  ships — men,  women,  and  children, 
and  welcomed  the   French   with  singing  and  dancing; 


144    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

but  they  objected  to  the  cross  and  explained  by  signs 
that  the'  land  was  theirs.  The  French  got  possession  of 
two  of  the  sons  of  one  of  the  chiefs,  and  managed  to 
reconcile  them  and  their  friends  by  presents,  telling 
the  Indians  by  signs  that  they  would  bring  them  back 
with  many  more  presents.  The  names  of  the  youths  were 
Taignoagny  and  Domagaya.  They  gave  their  old  rags 
to  their  companions,  and  accepted  the  French  dress. 
They  were  not  altogether  averse  to  being  carried  away, 
Cartier  took  them  to  France,  and  they  were  useful  as 
interpreters  on  his  next  voyage. 

At  this  point  occurred  the  most  unaccountable  thing 
in  all  Cartier's  narrative.  He  set  sail  on  the  25th,  and 
when  he  got  out  of  Gaspe  Bay  he  went  in  a  direction  to 
east-north-east,  because  the  land  swept  round  from  the 
mouth  of  the  bay  making,  as  he  saw  it  from  his  ship, 
a  bay  like  a  semicircle ;  and,  in  fact,  there  is  such  a  bay 
from  Cape  Gaspe  to  N.  N.  E.  (magnetic)  as  far  as  Cape 
Rosier.  But  Cartier,  in  sailing  out,  caught  sight  of 
Anticosti,  about  twenty  leagues  away,  and  he  appears  to 
have  concluded  that  it  formed  part  of  the  same  bay,  and 
that  there  was  no  opening  through.  If  he  had  passed 
Cape  Rosier  he  would  have  seen  the  land  turning  to  the 
west,  and,  as  he  crossed  the  estuary,  he  must  have  seen 
open  water  to  the  west.  He  does  not  say  plainly  that 
he  thought  the  land  closed  round ;  he  merely  says  that  he 
went  to  examine  the  new  land  which  he  had  caught  sight 
of.  It  has  been  supposed  that  a  fog  shut  off  the  opening 
to  the  west,  but  the  same  fog  would  have  hidden  the  low 
coast  of  Anticosti.  The  disappointment  at  finding  no 
passage  at  Chaleur  Bay  may  have  influenced  his  judg- 
ment, but  the  fact  is  indisputable  that  he  did  cross  over 
the  main  entrance  to  the  river,  and  when  he  struck 
Anticosti  followed  its  coast  to  the  east,  and  not  west- 
ward. 

This  apparent  slip  of  Cartier  does  not  stand  alone. 
In  181 8  John  Ross  was  deceived  by  a  fogbank,  and  not 
only  imagined  he  saw  a  mountain  range  closing  Lan- 
caster Sound,  but  named  the  range  after  an  Under  Sec- 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      145 

retary  of  Admiralty.  In  1778  the  celebrated  Captain 
Cook  sailed  along  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver  Island, 
and  thought  it  was  the  main  continent.  In  Cartier's  case, 
however,  there  was  no  fog,  for  Anticosti  was  visible. 
Could  it  have  been  that  he  intended  to  go  no  further 
west  that  year?  He  could  not  have  been  deceived.  He 
was  not  prepared  to  winter  in  the  country,  and  it  might 
well  be  that  he  had  gone  as  far  as  he  thought  safe  that 
year.  If.  so,  his  judgment  must  be  approved ;  only,  it 
would  have  been  more  satisfactory  to  his  commentators 
if  he  had  said  so. 

Cartier  coasted  eastward  along  the  south  coast  of  Anti- 
costi until  he  reached  a  point  (South  Point)  where 
the  land  began  to  turn  to  the  east.  Fifteen  leagues  fur- 
ther was  a  point  he  called  Cape  St.  Louis,  because  it  was 
the  festival  of  that  saint,  when  the  land  turned  again 
(Heath  Point).  He  describes  the  country  at  that  place 
as  level  prairie  and  more  clear  of  forest  than  the  other 
part  of  the  coast.  He  estimated  the  latitude  at  49°  15' 
(it  is  49°  05'),  and  he  gives  the  longitude  at  63°  30', 
nearly  20°  too  far  west.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  wild 
longitude  estimations,  not  only  of  Cartier,  but  of  all  the 
old  mariners,  that  he  makes  a  difference  of  10°  between 
Chaleur  Bay  and  the  east  point  of  Anticosti,  whereas 
the  difference  is  only  three  degrees ;  but  these  figures 
may  have  been  filled  into  the  blanks  in  Cartier's  manu- 
script in  France  by  another  hand ;  for  there  are  many 
blanks  for  longitude  still  remaining,  and,  seeing  that 
these  also  are  blank  in  both  Hakluyt's  and  Petit- Val's 
versions,  that  would  be  the  most  probable  supposition. 
Here  also  occurs  one  of  the  few  instances  in  which  these 
translations  assist  to  clear  the  meaning.  The  "  Relation 
Originale  "  says  that  the  coast  from  Cape  St.  Louis  to  the 
next  turn  in  the  coast,  Cape  Montmorency  (Fox  Point), 
trends  to  the  northeast,  iDUt  northwest  is  given  in  the 
versions,  and  that  is  really  the  only  possible  turn  there 
could  be. 

At  sunrise  on  Saturday,  August  i,  having  followed 
round  the  channel  north  of  Anticosti,  they  caught  sight 


146    THE  ST.   LAWRENCE  BASIN 

of  other  land  (the  Quebec  Labrador),  lying  to  the  north 
and  northeast,  appearing  to  consist  of  highlands,  with 
mountains  in  rear  of  low  wooded  lands  with  rivers. 
They  continued  coasting,  examining  both  sides  until 
August  5,  looking  for  a  passage  on  the  north  side.  The 
distance  between  the  two  shores  is  given  as  about  fifteen 
leagues,  and  the  latitude  of  the  centre  of  the  channel  as 
50°  20'  N.  It  is  really  nearly  50°.  They  were  able  to 
make  only  twenty-five  leagues  in  all  that  time,  for  they 
had  to  struggle  against  strong  head-winds  and  opposing 
currents,  and  just  when  they  reached  the  narrowest 
place,  where  the  land  was  easily  visible  on  both  sides, 
and  began  to  widen  out,  they  had  to  continue  the  explo- 
ration in  their  boats,  for  the  ships  kept  constantly  falling 
off  their  course  before  the  heavy  head-wind.  They 
started  for  a  cape  five  leagues  to  the  west,  which  pro- 
jected furthest  from  the  south  shore,  hoping  to  get  a 
view  from  thence,  and  they  found  it  consisted  of  rocks, 
and  the  soundings  showed  a  rocky  bottom.  The  spot 
indicated  is  High  Cliff  Point,  the  only  point  on  that  coast 
where  the  foot  of  the  cliff  has  a  talus  of  fragments  of 
rock.  The  tide  carried  them  westward  against  the  wind, 
and  one  of  the  boats  touched  a  rock,  but  they  still  rowed 
westward  for  two  hours,  when  the  tide  turned,  and  the 
ebb  was  so  strong  that,  with  thirteen  oars,  they  could  not 
advance  more  than  a  stone's  throw.  Then  they  landed, 
and  sent  ten  or  twelve  men  on  to  the  cape  ahead,  where 
the  land  began  to  trend  to  the  southwest.  Having  seen 
and  satisfied  themselves  of  that,  they  all  returned  to 
the  ships,  which,  though  under  sail,  had  dropped  down 
more  than  four  leagues.  They  had  made  their  farthest 
west  on  this  voyage,  and  had  reached  what  is  now 
called  the  north  point  of  Anticosti.  The  1st  of  August 
was  the  feast  of  St.  Peter  in  chains, — the  day  they 
saw  land  to  the  north, — so  they  named  it  the  Strait  of 
St.  Peter. 

Cartier  had  now  definitely  ascertained  that  there  was  a 
great  sea  opening  to  the  westward,  but  he  was  not  pre- 
pared   to    undertake    a    discovery    so    extensive    as    the 


THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN    147 

appearances  indicated ;  and,  besides,  although  his  skilful 
seamanship  had  carried  him  round  these  unknown 
coasts  with  only  a  loss  of  one  anchor,  he  had  expe- 
rienced an  unusual  amount  of  bad  weather.  When  he 
got  back  to  his  ship  he  called  together  all  the  captains, 
pilots,  masters,  and  companions  of  the  expedition  to  con- 
sult upon  the  best  course  to  take,  for  the  engagement 
made  with  them  was  for  a  voyage,  and  did  not  include  a 
residence  over  the  winter,  nor,  in  fact,  was  the  expedi- 
tion fitted  out  or  provisioned  for  so  long  an  absence. 
They  decided  to  return  to  France  for  the  reasons  that 
the  season  of  strong  westerly  winds  was  beginning; 
that  they  could  not  make  head  against  the  strong  tides ; 
that  they  could  not  explore  any  further  during  that  sea- 
son ;  that  the  stormy  season  on  the  coast  of  Newfound- 
land was  approaching;  that  they  were  far  from  home 
and  exposed  to  unknown  dangers.  In  short,  it  seemed 
that  they  should  either  decide  to  winter  where  they  were, 
or  return  at  once ;  because  if  the  north  winds  set  in  they 
could  not  get  away.  In  all  that  company  not  one  knew 
of  the  route  south  of  Newfoundland,  through  Cabot 
Strait. 

Now  that  their  ships  were  heading  homewards  the 
wind  was  fair,  and  they  had  plenty  of  it.  They  coasted 
along  the  north  shore,  and  on  the  projecting  point  of 
Natashquan  they  saw  the  smoke  of  the  camp-fires  of  the 
natives ;  but  the  wind  was  on  shore,  and  they  could  not 
approach.  Seeing  that  the  ships  were  passing  on,  about 
twelve  of  the  savages  came  out  in  their  canoes  and  came 
on  board,  without  any  more  hesitation  than  if  they  had 
been  Frenchmen.  They  informed  Cartier  that  they  had 
been  on  the  coast  in  the  Grand  Bay,  and  were  now  on 
their  way,  laden  with  fish,  to  their  own  country,  whence 
he  had  last  come.  The  chief  of  the  band  was  waiting 
on  the  cape,  and  Cartier  called  it  Cape  Thiennot  after 
him.  The  ships  were  headed  first  for  the  coast  of  New- 
foundland, which  they  reached  at  Cape  Double  (Cape 
Riche),  and  from  there  they  went  to  Blanc  Sablon,  which 
they  reached  on  August  9.     On  August  15  they  started 


148    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

homewards  through  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle,  and  after 
experiencing  some  very  heavy  weather  they  arrived  at 
St.  Malo  on  September  5.  The  Gulf  Coast  of  the 
Dominion  had  been  thoroughly  explored. 


NOTE     A 

BIRDS     MENTIONED     BY     JACQUES     CARTIER 

Much  conflict  of  opinion  exists  concerning  the  sea-birds  of 
Cartier's  first  voyage;  for  the  names  he  called  them  have  dis- 
appeared from  the  dictionaries,  and  one  of  the  species — the  most 
remarkable  in  many  respects — has  become  extinct.  Cartier  was 
much  impressed  with  the  prodigious  numbers  of  these  t)irds, 
and  devoted,  comparatively,  a  great  deal  of  space  to  describing 
them. 

The  first  locality  mentioned  is  Funk  Island,  the  Isle  des 
Onaiscaulx  of  Cartier.  This  is  a  flat  island,  forty-six  feet  high, 
off  the  northeast  coast  of  Newfoundland,  thirty-three  miles 
north  of  Cape  Freels,  and  the  same  distance  east  of  Fogo  Island. 
He  describes  the  number  of  birds  as  incredible,  and,  although 
the  island  is  a  league  in  circumference,  it  was  so  full  of  birds 
that  they  seemed  as  if  they  were  stowed  there  as  close  as  if  in 
ship's  hold;  and,  besides  those  on  the  island,  there  were  a  hun- 
dred times  as  many  more  hovering  in  the  air  and  swimming  in 
the  water.  They  were  of  three  kinds — "  apponatz,"  "  godez," 
and  "  margaulx." 

The  apponatz  were  as  large  as  geese,  black  and  white  in 
colour,  and  with  beaks  like  a  crow.  They  could  not  fly,  but 
were  always  in  the  water ;  for  their  wings  were  very  small,  and 
they  used  them  only  for  swimming,  as  other  birds  use  their 
wings  for  flying.  Two  boats  were  filled  with  these  birds  in 
less  than  half  an  hour.  The  sailors  loaded  them  on  as  quickly 
as  if  they  were  stones.  They  were  wondrously  fat,  and  four  or 
five  hogsheads  were  salted  down  for  food. 

The  bird  so  graphically  described  by  Cartier  was  the  great 
^^k.  A  lea  impcnnis,  now  and  for  eighty  years  back  as  extinct 
as  the  dodo ;  but  then  as  abundant  on  the  coasts  of  America 
as  the  buffalo  was  on  its  prairies.  "  These  birds,"  wrote  Anthony 
Parkhurst  in  1578,  "are  also  called  penguins,  and  cannot  flie; 
there  is  more  meate  in  one  of  these  than  in  a  goose :  the 
Frenchmen  that  fish  neere  the  grande  bale,  doe  bring  small 
store  of  flesh  with  them  but  victuall  themselves  always  with 
these  birdes."  Richard  Whitbourne,  writing  a  few  years  later, 
says:     "These  penguins   are  as   big   as  gccse   and   fly  not,   for 


CARTIER'S  FIRST  VOYAGE      149 

they  have  but  a  little  short  wing,  and  they  multiply  so  infinitely 
upon  a  certain  flat  island,  that  men  drive  them  from  thence  upon 
a  board  hlto  their  boats  by  hundreds  at  a  time."  The  work  of 
extermination  was  so  thorough  and  ended  so  suddenly,  that  most 
of  the  museums  of  natural  history  found  themselves  without 
specimens.  The  last  bird  was  shot  in  1844,  and  is  in  the 
museum  at  Copenhagen.  Several  expeditions  have  been  made 
to  Funk  Island  to  obtain  skeletons ;  notably  one  in  1887,  when  a 
vessel  belonging  to  the  United  States  Government  went  there, 
and  Mr.  Frederick  A.  Lucas  made  a  collection  for  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution.  These  auks  were  harmless  creatures,  help- 
less on  land.  Their  legs  were  so  short  and  placed  so  far  behind 
that  they  seemed  to  squat  with  their  bodies  upright.  As  late  as 
1796,  Cartwright  tells  us,  the  sailors  would  lay  a  gangway  from 
the  shore  to  the  gimwales  of  the  boats  and  drive  those  poor 
creatures  on  board.  The  memory  of  the  great  auk  still  persists 
on  the  coast  in  the  repetition  of  such  names  as  "  the  Penguin 
Islands." 

Besides  the  apponatz  (or  apponath  of  Lescarbot),  Cartier 
continues,  there  are  incredible  numbers  of  a  smaller  bird  he 
calls  godes.  They  pack  themselves  away  among  and  under  the 
large  birds.  These  not  only  swim  in  the  water,  but  fly  in  the 
air.  They  are  now  called  guillemots — sometimes  murres,  and 
are  yet  numerous  on  the  coast.  There  are  several  species ;  the 
one  which  Cartier  saw  was  the  "  common  or  foolish  guillemot," 
a  confiding  sort  of  a  creature  that  does  not  know  enough  to  get 
out  of  the  way  of  a  destructive  animal  like  a  white  man.  Still, 
as  it  can  fly,  it  has  survived.  Sailors  call  them  guds  to  the 
present  day. 

The  birds  Cartier  calls  margaulx  are  larger  than  geese,  and 
are  white  in  colour.  They  do  not  associate  with  the  other  two 
kinds,  but  live  by  themselves  in  a  separate  part  of  the  island. 
"  They  bite  like  dogs,"  he  adds,  "  when  attacked." 

On  the  coast  of  Labrador,  off  Blanc  Sablon,  Cartier  found 
another  Isle  des  Ouaiseaulx,  in  what  is  now  called  Greenly 
Island.  There  he  found  innumerable  godetz  and  birds  he  calls 
richars.  These  last  have  red  feet  and  beaks,  and  make  their 
nests  in  holes  in  the  earth  like  rabbits.  They  were  puffins ;  and 
Greenly  Island  is  still,  from  June  to  October,  the  resort  of 
myriads  of  puffins.  Farther  down,  on  the  coast  he  explored  in 
his  boats  from  Brest  and  called  Toutes  Isles,  Cartier  found, 
among  others,  great  quantities  of  eggs  of  ducks.  He  calls  them 
Cannes,  and  the  French  people  of  the  lower  St.  _  Lawrence 
brought  the  word  over  in  early  colony  days,  and  use  it  yet. 

The  islets  near  the  Magdalens  known  as  the  Bird  Rocks  were 
called  by  Cartier  Isles  de  Margaulx.  These  islands  are  still 
white  with  birds,  for  their  summits  are  almost  inaccessible,  and 
the  lighthouse  keeper  is  the  only  human  inhabitant.  The 
southern   one   is   called  the   Great   Bird;   Audubon  calls   it  the 


I50    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Great  Gannet  Rock.  With  characteristic  accuracy  Cartier 
records  the  fact  that  the  gannets  (margaulx)  occupy  the  larger 
island.  The  other  island,  he  says,  was  full  of  godetz  and 
apponatz,  and  there  again  his  men  secured  for  food  a  large 
number  of  birds.  The  auks  being  on  the  lowest  ledges  were  the 
chief  victims ;  the  godetz  were  higher  up. 

The  birds  of  the  Gulf  are  much  the  same  now,  save  that  there 
are  fewer  of  them,  and  the  great  auk  is  gone.  The  razor-billed 
auk  still  frequents  the  coasts  in  immense  numbers,  and  breeds 
in  company  with  the  guillemots,  as  in  Cartier's  time.  This 
species  of  the  auk  can  fly  well.  It  is  sometimes  called  tinker, 
and  sometimes  turre.  The  puffins  are  called  sea  parrots  and  Per- 
roquet  Island  is  named  from  them.  The  island  is  tunnelled  with 
their  burrows.  They  bite  viciously,  as  a  confiding  stranger 
quickly  discovers  when  he  is  persuaded  to  put  his  hand  into 
one  of  the  holes.  Some  idea  of  the  impression  made  upon  Car- 
tier  may  be  gathered  from  Audubon's  description  of  his  visit, 
in  1833,  to  the  Bird  Rocks.  There  was  no  lighthouse  for  fifty 
years  after,  and  the  birds  had  been  practically  undisturbed.  He 
was  approaching  the  "  Great  Gannet  Rock."  "At  length  we 
discovered  at  a  distance  a  white  speck  which  our  pilot  assured 
us  was  the  celebrated  rock  of  our  wishes.  We  thought  it  was 
still  covered  with  snow  several  feet  deep.  As  we  approached  it 
I  imagined  that  the  atmosphere  around  us  was  filled  with  flakes; 
but  on  my  turning  to  the  pilot,  who  smiled  at  my  simplicity,  I 
was  assured  that  nothing  was  in  sight  but  the  gannets  and  their 
island  home.  I  rubbed  my  eyes,  took  out  my  glass,  and  saw  that 
the  strange  dimness  of  the  air  before  us  was  caused  by  the 
innumerable  birds,  whose  white  bodies  and  black-tipped  pinions 
produced  a  blended  tint  of  light  grey.  When  we  advanced  to 
half  a  mile  the  magnificent  veil  of  floating  gannets  was  easily 
seen,  now  shooting  upwards  as  if  intent  on  reaching  the  sky, 
then  descending  as  if  to  join  the  feathered  masses  below,  and 
again  diverging  towards  either  side,  and  sweeping  over  the 
surface  of  the  ocean." 

Who  will  dispute  with  Audubon  as  to  the  species  of  these 
birds?  Then,  as  if  confirming  Cartier's  account,  he  tells  us: 
"  The  whole  surface  of  the  upper  platform  is  closely  covered 
with  nests,  placed  about  two  feet  asunder  and  in  such  regular 
order  that  a  person  may  see  between  the  lines  which  run  north 
and  south,  as  if  looking  along  the  furrows  of  a  deeply  ploughed 
field."  Cartier  observed  this  at  Funk  Island,  and  he  expressed 
it  by  one  word.  It  seemed  as  if  they  had  been  "  arimez " — a 
word  used  by  sailors  for  stowing  away  cargo. 

Cartier  makes  no  reference  to  gulls,  no  doubt  because  they 
were,  and  are,  common  birds  upon  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  its 
coasts  in  both  hemispheres. 


CHAPTER    XI 
cartier's  second  voyage,,  1535-36 

THE  view  which  opened  up  before  Cartier's  eyes 
when  he  stood  upon  the  north  point  of  Anti- 
costi  decided  his  action.  It  is  the  narrowest 
part  of  the  Mingan  Channel.  On  both  sides 
the  land  receded,  but  upon  the  south  more  than  the  north. 
The  point  itself  is  not  high,  but  the  turn  in  the  trend  of 
the  coast  is  very  decided,  and  Cartier  could  see  the  inner 
basin  of  the  Gulf  spreading  out  as  far  as  his  eye  could 
reach.  Here,  then,  opened  up  at  last  the  passage  to  the 
South  Sea,  and  on  returning  to  his  ships  he  straightway 
called  his  captains  and  pilots  together  and  they  decided  to 
return  home.  The  decision  was  wise.  This  voyage  was 
only  a  reconnaissance,  and  they  were  not  fitted  out  to 
remain  over  the  season.  Now  the  path  was  found,  the 
sooner  he  could  get  home  the  better,  for  he  could  the 
quicker  begin  his  preparations  for  a  greater  enterprise. 

He  lost  very  little  time.  He  arrived  at  St.  Malo  on 
September  5,  and  October  30  is  the  date  of  the  new  com- 
mission from  the  Admiral  of  France  for  a  second  voy- 
age "  to  complete  the  navigation  in  the  lands  which  he 
had  commenced  to  discover."  No  one  thought  then,  or 
suspected,  that  French  Basques,  or  any  other  Basques, 
had  sailed  up  into  that  bright  basin  whose  waves  rip- 
pled before  Cartier's  gaze  under  the  clear  blue  August 
sky.  Philippe  de  Chabot,  the  Admiral  of  France,  knew, 
and  the  King  of  France  knew,  and  so  should  we  all  know, 
that  the  Breton  sailor  was  the  first  European  to  enter 
what  they  fondly  believed  to  be  the  gateway  of  the  sun- 
set. To  follow  up  the  enterprise  Cartier's  commission 
empowered  him  to  engage  three  ships,  for  the  succeeding 
season,  and  to  victual  them  for  fifteen  months. 

The  merchants  of  St.  Malo  met  the  preparations  of 

151 


152    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Cartier  for  his  second  voyage  with  the  same  covert 
opposition  as  they  presented  to  the  first.  He  had  to 
appear  before  the  municipal  assembly  and  to  invoke  the 
authority  of  the  admiral,  and  have  his  commission  read 
and  recorded.  Under  it  he  had  the  first  choice  of  the 
vessels  of  the  port,  and  until  his  had  been  manned  and 
equipped  no  vessels  could  sail  to  the  fisheries  of  the 
west.  It  was  Chabot's  influence  which  carried  Cartier 
through  ;  for  he  was  then  one  of  the  most  powerful  nobles 
of  the  court.  Enterprising  and  high-spirited,  he  had 
been  one  of  the  best  of  the  youthful  comrades  of  the 
monarch,  and  retained  his  favour  for  many  years.  Dur- 
ing the  preparations  we  find  Cartier's  name  in  the  rec- 
ords of  St.  Malo,  taking  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
municipality.  He  was  genial  in  his  disposition  and 
sociable  in  his  habits,  but  not  a  man  to  be  moved  from  his 
purpose  by  the  opposition  of  a  few  interested  traders. 

The  original  narrative  of  this  voyage,  generally  cited 
as  the  "  Bref  Recit,"  exists  in  French.  It  was  published 
at  Paris  in  1545,  and  is  one  of  the  scarcest  books  in  the 
world,  for  only  one  copy  has  survived,  and  it  is  in  the 
British  Museum.  Three  manuscript  narratives,  similar 
in  handwriting  and  differing  very  slightly  from  each 
other,  and  from  the  printed  version,  have  been  found  in 
the  Bibliotheque  Imperiale  at  Paris.  Ramusio  has  a 
version  in  his  great  collection,  translated  from  the 
French  edition  of  1545,  and  the  version  of  Hakluyt  has 
evidently  been  translated  from  Ramusio.  While  we  may 
be  assured  from  internal  evidence  that  the  version  of 
1545  was  written  by  one  who  took  part  in  the  expedition, 
we  are,  on  the  same  evidence,  convinced  that  it  was  not, 
like  the  "  Relation  Originale  "  of  the  first  voyage,  written 
by  Cartier  himself.  The  vocabulary  is  not  that  of  a 
sailor  and  the  style  is  more  correct  and  less  like  that  of 
a  ship's  log.  It  is  prefaced  by  a  letter  to  the  king 
written  in  high-flown  style,  and  full  of  far-fetched  allu- 
sions. Most  certainly  Cartier  did  not  write  that.  It  is 
usually  attributed  to  Belleforest.  In  the  literature  of 
the  sixteenth  century  we  will  find  nothing  to  gratify  our 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE   153 

curiosity  concerning  Cartier's  life,  while  the  annals  are 
full  of  the  doings  of  Madame  de  Chateaubriand,  Madame 
d'Etampes,  Diane  de  Poitiers,  and  such  like  persons. 
Cartier's  discovery  had  a  very  wide  influence  upon  the 
destiny  of  France,  and  for  a  period  it  was  possible  that 
his  voyage  might  secure  to  France  the  whole  interior  of 
the  continent  from  Quebec  to  New  Orleans.  But,  as 
D'Avezac  mournfully  remarks,  the  French  have  taken 
very  little  interest  in  the  distant  discoveries  of  their  sail- 
ors, and,  even  now,  in  one  of  the  most  important  his- 
tories of  France  Cartier  is  mentioned  in  a  few  words  as 
Jean  Cartier,  and  the  same  error  is  repeated  in  a  learned 
German  work  recently  published  on  Norse  discoveries 
in  America. 

At  last  everything  was  ready,  and  on  Whitsunday, 
May  16,  1535,  Cartier  with  his  whole  command  received 
the  sacrament  at  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Malo,  and  were 
afterwards  all  presented  to  the  bishop  in  the  choir  and 
received  his  blessing.  The  expedition  consisted  of  three 
ships,  the  Grande  H ermine,  of  120  tons,  Thomas  Fros- 
mond,  master,  in  which  Cartier  sailed ;  the  Petite  Her- 
mine,  of  60  tons.  Mace  Jalobert,  captain,  and  I'Emerillon, 
of  40  tons,  under  Captain  Guillaume  le  Breton.  There 
\vere  a  few  gentlemen,  volunteer  companions,  with  Car- 
tier  on  the  Grande  Hermine.  The  names  of  74  of  the 
crew  are  preserved  in  the  official  records  of  the  port, 
and  10  more,  not  on  that  list,  are  mentioned  in  the  nar- 
rative. The  two  Indians  whom  Cartier  took  to  France 
on  his  return  from  his  first  voyage  were  taken  back  as 
interpreters,  and,  together  with  a  number  whose  names 
are  not  recorded,  the  total  amounted  to  112  souls.  Two 
names  on  the  official  list  have  been  the  occasion  of  keen 
controversy  in  Canada, — Dom  Guillaume  le  Breton  and 
Dom  Anthoine ;  some  writers  insisting  that  they  were 
priests,  "  aumoniers,"  attached  to  the  expedition,  and 
others  being  equally  certain  that  there  were  no  clergy- 
men present  on  either  voyage.  The  matter  is  discussed 
later,  for  a  good  deal  may  be  said  on  both  sides ;  though 
fortunately    it    is    not    important    from    a  geographical 


154    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

point  of  view.  It  is  important,  however,  to  observe  that 
no  basis  exists  for  the  statement  that  any  portion  of  Car- 
tier's  crew,  on  this  voyage,  consisted  of  "  impressed 
criminals."  and  therefore  it  is  ungracious  and  uncharit- 
able to  characterise  as  "  a  motley  crew  "  the  party  which 
Cartier  led  to  church,  on  that  memorable  Whitsunday  to 
partake  of  the  Holy  Sacrament  and  receive  the  episcopal 
benediction  under  all  the  safeguards  which  the  Roman 
Church  has  prescribed. 

On  Wednesday,  May  19,  1535,  the  wind  turned  fair, 
and  the  expedition  sailed,  but  Cartier  did  not  have  the 
good  fortune  of  the  previous  year.  He  had  five  weeks 
of  the  worst  weather  the  North  Atlantic  could  produce : 
contrary  wind,  thick  fog,  and  heavy  storms,  so  that  the 
ships  parted  company  and  did  not  see  each  other  until 
they  arrived  at  the  rendezvous  at  Blanc  Sablon.  Cartier 
arrived  on  July  15,  but  it  was  the  26th  before  the  other 
two  ships  joined  him.  At  Blanc  Sablon  he  refitted  the 
ships  and  took  in  wood  and  water,  and  he  sailed  west- 
ward on  July  29.  They  did  not  cross  to  Newfound- 
land, as  before,  but  followed  along  the  Labrador  coast, 
which  he  describes  as  peaked  and  rocky  and  thickly 
ranged  with  islands.  At  twenty  leagues  from  Brest, 
at  sundown,  he  came  to  Great  Meccatina  Island,  and 
named  the  group  the  Isles  de  St.  Guillaiime.  Cartier 
was  upon  a  very  dangerous  coast,  and  he  struck  sail 
every  night  and  lay  to  until  daylight.  There  is  nothing 
remarkable  upon  it — it  is  uniformly  rocky  and  danger- 
ous. He  noticed  a  roadstead  full  of  islands  (Watagheis- 
tic  Sound),  and  named  the  group  Isles  Ste.  Marthe — 
they  are  now  called  St.  Mary  Islands.  Slowly  feeling 
his  way  along  he  notices  what  he  called  the  Isles  de  St. 
Germain.  It  is  difficult  to  identify  these  among  the  mul- 
titude of  islands.  The  ragged  coast  is  monotonous  with 
dangers,  and  the  water  is  so  deep  that  the  lead  gives  no 
warning.  At  last,  on  July  31,  the  coast  changed  its  char- 
acter. It  became  flat  and  sandy,  and  shoals  took  the 
place  of  reefs — a  wooded  shore  with  no  sign  of  har- 
bours.    He    recognised    Cape   Thiennot   of   his    former 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    155 

voyage,  now  Natashquan  Point.  On  some  modern  maps 
there  is  a  mountain  there  marked  Mont  Joli ;  but  Cartier 
saw  no  such  mountain,  and  describes  the  coast  as  it  is, 
flat  and  sandy,  and  turning  away  to  the  northwest.  He 
had  reached  familiar  waters,  and  was  able  again  to  sail 
at  night. 

The  wind  turned  contrary  and  Cartier  took  refuge  in 
a  harbour  he  called  Havre  St.  Nicholas.  He  gives  the 
distance  from  Cape  Thiennot  as  seven  leagues  and  a 
half.  Charlevoix  says  this  is  the  only  name  of  Cartier's 
which  persists  upon  the  coast,  and,  indeed,  the  name  is 
found  in  Sanson's  atlas  of  1676,  but  in  a  manner  which 
gives  no  clew  to  its  identification.  Here  Cartier  lay  from 
August  I  to  August  7,  and  he  planted  a  cross  as  a  beacon 
on  one  of  the  four  islands  which  he  says  form  the  har- 
bour.    It  was  probably  Pashasheeboo  Bay. 

From  Havre  St.  Nicholas  Cartier  sailed  to  cross  over 
to  the  Anticosti  shore  towards  Cape  Rabast,  that  is,  to 
the  north  point  of  the  island,  his  extreme  west  point  on 
the  previous  voyage,  where  the  land  began  to  fall  away 
(rabattre)  or  widen  out;  but  the  wind  changed  and 
there  were  no  harbours  on  that  shore,  so  he  turned  back 
to  the  Labrador  coast.  He  entered  "  a  very  fine  and 
large  bay,  full  of  islands,  and  with  channels  of  entrance 
and  exit  in  all  winds.  It  was  marked  by  a  large  island 
at  its  mouth  "  (St.  Genevieve  Island).  This  bay  is  now 
called  Pillage  Bay.  Cartier  named  it  Baye  Sainct 
Laurens,  because  he  entered  it  on  August  10,  the  feast  of 
St.  Lawrence.  Gradually  and  insensibly  the  name 
spread  until  it  finally  extended  over  the  whole  St.  Law- 
rence Gulf  and  River.  There  cannot  be  any  doubt  about 
the  locality,  for  its  physical  features  are  described  by 
Cartier  with  his  usual  accuracy.  "  I  have  seen,"  writes 
a  missionary  priest  on  the  coast,  "  the  mountain  shaped 
like  a  stack  of  wheat,  and  I  have  seen  the  large  island 
like  a  headland  which  projects  beyond  the  others." 

On  August  12  Cartier  resumed  his  westward  course 
and  steered  for  a  cape  upon  the  land  to  the  south  (Anti- 
costi), and  now  the  two  Indians  began  to  recognize  the 


156    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

coast  familiar  to  them.  They  told  Cartier  that  the  land 
on  the  south  was  an  island,  and  south  of  it  again  was 
Honguedo  (Gaspe),  from  whence  he  had  taken  them 
the  previous  year.  Two  days'  sail  from  there  com- 
menced the  kingdom  of  Saguenay,  beyond  which  was 
Canada.  These  names  occur  here  for  the  first  time,  and, 
as  Cartier  could  not  have  heard  them,  save  from  his 
Indian  companions,  they  must  have  been  the  names  then 
current  in  the  speech  of  the  nation  to  which  Taignoagny 
and  Domagaya  belonged.  The  words  are  Huron- 
Iroquois,  and  settle  the  question  as  to  the  race  then 
occupying  Canada.  This  has  been  the  subject  of  so 
much  controversy  that  it  has  been  reserved  for  separate 
discussion.  Doubtless  much  had  been  said  by  the  cap- 
tured Indians  during  their  winter  in  France  about  their 
native  country,  for  the  names  come  in  without  explana- 
tion, as  if  well  known.  Cartier  sailed  across  the  estuary 
of  the  river  to  the  Gaspe  shore,  and  his  incidental  remark 
that  the  number  of  whales  they  saw  during  the  traverse 
passed  all  experience  throws  much  light  upon  the  con- 
ditions of  the  Gulf  at  that  time.  He  named  the  island 
(Anticosti)  L' Assumption,  for  on  that  festival  he  passed 
out  of  the  Mingan  Channel  and  saw  the  west  point  of 
Anticosti.  On  that  day  and  the  next  he  followed  along 
the  lofty  Gaspe  coast,  remarking  upon  the  high  moun- 
tains :  for  the  whole  peninsula  of  Gaspe  is  a  high  table- 
land, and  the  Shickshock  and  Notre  Dame  mountains 
rise  from  three  thousand  to  four  thousand  feet  above  the 
sea  and  come  down  bluff  to  the  shore. 

The  two  Indians  were  now  thoroughly  at  home,  and 
they  told  Cartier  that  he  was  about  to  enter  upon  the 
great  river  of  Hochelaga,  and  that  it  was  the  highway  to 
Canada,  and  would  grow  narrower  all  the  way  to  Canada, 
evidently  meaning  Quebec,  and  that  there  he  would  find 
the  water  fresh.  They  said  that  they  had  never  heard 
of  any  man  who  had  been  to  the  end  of  it,  and  that  he 
woukl  have  to  use  his  boats — all  of  which  was  true,  for 
at  Cape  Rouge,  nine  miles  above  Quebec,  is  the  narrow- 
est point  on  the  river,  and  thirty  miles  below  Quebec  the 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    157 

water  becomes  fresh.  This  information  was  disappoint- 
ing, for  it  appeared  to  close  the  avenue  to  the  west,  and 
Cartier  was  in  search  of  a  passage  to  the  great  South 
Sea,  and  seeing  to  the  north,  on  the  opposite  side  in  the 
distance,  a  range  of  high  mountains  in  rear  of  the  shore, 
he  turned  back  on  his  course  and  surveyed  the  coast  east- 
wards lest  by  any  chance  he  might  miss  the  through  pas- 
sage of  which  he  was  in  search. 

It  was  Wednesday,  August  i8,  when  he  put  about. 
He  had  reached  Point  de  Monts,  for  he  observed  the 
great  arc  which  sweeps  from  it  round  to  the  northeast. 
At  that  point  is,  properly,  the  commencement  of  the 
estuary  of  the  river,  and  it  narrows  there  to  twenty-five 
miles.  The  Indians  said  it  was  the  beginning  of  Sague- 
nay,  where  red  copper  was  found.  Cartier's  quick  eye 
could  not  miss  the  magnificent  harbour  of  Seven  Islands 
Bay — the  best  on  the  whole  coast.  The  islands  are,  as  he 
describes  them,  very  high,  and  a  few  miles  in  rear  of  the 
shore  the  tableland  of  Labrador  rises  from  1300  to  1700 
feet.  He  named  the  place  Isles  Rondcs,  and  there  he  left 
his  ships  and  explored  in  his  boats  every  mile  of  the  coast 
he  had  omitted,  back  to  the  point  where  he  crossed  to  the 
south — stopping  on  his  way  to  examine  the  river  Moisic. 
He  had  now  seen  the  whole  Labrador  coast — not  at  a 
distance,  but  close  to,  and,  without  one  accident,  he  had 
run  in  and  out  among  islands  and  reefs  and  shoals  in 
places  where  only  the  most  experienced  skippers  now 
venture  with  the  aid  of  the  charts  of  modern  surveys. 
Those  old  sailors  seemed  to  sail  by  instinct.  At  the 
Moisic  Cartier'  saw  some  strange  fishes,  shaped  like 
horses,  and  his  Indians  told  him  that  they  went  on  land 
at  night,  but  remained  in  the  sea  by  day.  He  saw  plenty 
of  them  in  the  river,  but  none  on  land,  nor  has  anyone 
seen  such  fishes  since.  Lescarbot  tries  to  explain  them 
in  a  chapter  heading  by  calling  them  hippopotames. 
Unless  they  were  walruses,  it  is  impossible  to  guess  what 
they  were.  Disappointed  in  his  search,  Cartier  re- 
turned to  his  ships  in  Seven  Islands  harbour.  There 
was  clearly  no  passage  on  that  shore. 


X 


158    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Contrary  winds  and  fog  detained  the  ships  until 
August  24.  The  south  shore  of  the  Gulf  had  been  ex- 
amined on  his  first  voyage,  and  the  only  course  open  was 
to  follow  up  the  great  river  before  him — a  magnificent 
avenue  leading  to  the  southwest.  Who  could  guess 
what  possibilities  it  might  reveal?  On  August  24,  then, 
Cartier  set  sail  from  Seven  Islands,  and  on  the  29th  he 
arrived  at  Bic.  Nothing  had  escaped  his  notice  by  the 
way.  He  observed  the  Outarde  and  Manicouagan 
rivers.  They  seemed  to  him  one  large  stream  opening 
out  upon  the  low  lands  with  high  lands  in  rear,  and  he 
observed  the  extensive  Manicouagan  shoal  a  long  dis- 
tance from  shore.  He  took  soundings  at  several  points, 
and  records  his  opinion  that  it  is  a  very  dangerous  local- 
ity ;  in  which  everyone  will  concur  who  has  seen  the  line 
of  white  foam  curling  along  its  outer  reef.  The  river 
widens  out  to  nearly  thirty  miles,  and  he  kept  up  a  sharp 
lookout  on  both  sides.  Bic  and  the  adjacent  roadstead 
of  Rimouski  are  the  first  secure  roadsteads  in  the  river ; 
and  vessels  passing  inwards  now  take  on  pilots  there. 
As  the  29th  was  the  anniversary  of  the  beheading  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist,  he  called  the  islands  the  Islots  de  Saint 
Jean. 

"  On  the  first  day  of  September,"  writes  Cartier,  "  we 
set  sail  from  the  said  harbour  for  Canada."  Canada  was 
to  him  a  town — the  chief  town  of  a  territory.  The  name 
is  in  the  vocabulary  at  the  end  of  his  narrative.  It  is  a 
Huron-Iroquois  word,  and  is  a  generic  name  for  any 
town  or  village.  He  soon  arrived  at  three  islands  in  the 
middle  of  the  river  (Green  Island,  Red  Island,  and  Basque 
Island),  and  abreast  of  them  on  the  north  shore  was 
the  mouth  of  a  profoundly  deep  river  between  high 
mountains  of  bare  rock,  and,  notwithstanding  the  scarc- 
ity of  earth,  they  were  clothed  with  forest.  Many  trees 
large  enough  to  make  masts  for  a  thirty-ton  vessel 
seemed  to  grow  straight  out  of  the  rock.  It  struck  Car- 
tier  as  being  very  strange — these  precipitous  mountains 
green  with  forest,  yet  without  earth.  His  Indians  told 
him  that  this  great  river  was  the  main  avenue  to  the 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    159 

kingdom  of  Saguenay.  Four  canoes  of  savages  were 
fashing  there,  and  two  of  them  approached,  and  at  the 
call  of  an  Indian  tongue  the  people  came  confidently  on 
board.  Taignoagny  and  Domagaya  were  at  last  among 
acquaintances. 

On  the  following  day  Cartier  pushed  on  "  for  Canada," 
and  here  it  should  be  noted  that,  for  him,  the  whole 
region  was  divided  into  three  kingdoms — Saguenay, 
where  he  then  was ;  Canada,  which  he  was  then  entering ; 
and  Hochelaga,  which  he  was  to  visit  later.  Kingdoms 
they  are  called  in  the  old  books,  and  their  chiefs  were 
kings ;  but  these  kings  we  know  to  have  been  sachems, 
and  their  kingdoms  the  tribal  hunting  grounds.  At  this 
point  occur  some  difficulties  of  navigation  in  the  river. 
In  the  present  day,  when  the  river  has  been  surveyed  and 
charted  minutely,  and  when  the  channel  is  lighted  like 
a  city  street,  it  is  easy  to  pass  up  or  down ;  but  Cartier's 
seamanship  was  here  strained  to  the  utmost,  for  the  ebb'*' 
and  flow  of  the  tides  are  swift  and  eddies  are  formed  by 
the  nature  of  the  bottom  and  the  character  of  the  reefs 
and  islands.  The  galleon  would  have  touched  if  they 
had  not  got  out  the  boats ;  for  there  were  two  islands 
(the  Pilgrims)  on  the  south  shore,  with  shoals  all  around 
them  strewed  with  great  boulders.  He  tried  to  anchor 
abreast  of  a  high  island  on  the  north  side  (Hare  Island) 
to  wait  over  the  ebb  tide,  but  he  could  not  find  an  anchor- 
age, and  had  to  run  back  to  the  islands  at  the  Saguenay. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Saguenay  Cartier  was  surprised 
to  find  large  numbers  of  white  whales :  "  a  kind  of  fish," 
he  says,  "  which  no  man  had  ever  before  seen  or  heard 
of."  They  were  "  as  large  as  porpoises,  and  had  no 
sword,"  like  swordfishes.  They  were  shaped  like  grey- 
hounds as  to  the  head  and  body,  and  they  were  as  "  white 
as  snow,  and  without  a  spot."  The  Indians  called  them 
adhothuys,  and  told  Cartier  that  they  frequented  only 
places  between  fresh  and  salt  water.  These  creatures 
still  exist  in  the  same  locality,  but  in  largely  reduced 
numbers,  and  in  Canada  are  now  called  white  porpoises 
(beluga).     There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  what  fish  was 


i6o    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

meant,    though   the    head    is    not    pointed    Hke    a  grey- 
hound's. 

The  following  day  (September  6)  a  fair  wind  arose, 
and  Cartier  pushed  on  to  the  west  as  far  as  an  island  on 
the  north  shore,  which  made,  with  the  land,  a  good  road- 
stead. He  called  it  Isle  aux  Coudres,  because  of  the 
wild  hazel  trees  found  there  (Hakluyt  translates  the 
word,  filbert,  loaded  with  nuts)  ;  but  he  was  chiefly 
struck  with  the  rush  of  the  flowing  and  ebbing  tides,  re- 
minding him  of  the  Garonne  at  Bordeaux.  The  next 
day,  Cartier  says,  was  the  7th,  and  the  day  of  the 
Nativity  of  Our  Lady,  and  before  they  started  they  heard 
mass.  His  voyages  have  been  very  thoroughly  dis- 
cussed in  Canada,  and  it  has  been  supposed  that  Cartier 
was  wrong,  for  the  festival  is  on  the  8th.  Hakluyt, 
following  Ramusio,  says  it  was  the  eve  of  Our  Lady's 
Day,  but  Lcscarbot  and  all  the  MSS.  concur  with  the 
"  Bref  Recit "  of  1545.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  vigils  of 
the  Church  were  observed  on  an  expedition  like  this,  but 
as  the  question  is  not  geographical  it  does  not  require  dis- 
cussion here.  On  that  day  he  arrived  at  the  Traverse  at 
the  lower  point  of  the  Isle  of  Orleans.  The  fourteen 
islands  he  reports  are  the  islands  now  known  as  Crane 
Island,  Goose  Island,  Grosse  Island,  and  others  smaller. 
Here,  the  Indians  said,  was  the  division  between  the 
territories  of  Saguenay  and  Canada.  The  ships  were 
anchored  in  the  channel  between  the  Island  of  Orleans 
and  the  north  shore,  and  Cartier  landed,  taking  his  two 
Indian  passengers  as  interpreters. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Taignoagny  and  Dom- 
agaya  were  taken  by  Cartier  on  his  first  voyage,  when  he 
knew  nothing  of  Canada  or  the  great  river,  and  they 
were  taken  from  the  Gaspe  coast.  Nevertheless  this 
locality  (the  present  Quebec)  was  their  real  home,  and 
there  were  their  friends  and  relatives.  There  were  people 
fishing  on  the  island,  who  began  to  run  away  until  the 
two  Indians  called  after  them  and  told  them  their  names, 
and  that  they  had  come  back.  Whereupon  they 
crowded  around  and  there  was  much  dancing  and  rejoic- 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    i6i 

ing,  and  the  people  came  from  all  sides  as  the  news 
spread, — men,  women  and  children, — and  food  was 
brought  and  presents  made.  The  event  was  as  startling 
and  sensational  as  would  be,  in  our  day,  the  return  of  two 
missing  friends  telling  us  that  they  had  come  from  the 
moon.  We  may,  therefore,  conclude  with  safety  that 
the  Huron-Iroquois  race  were  spread  far  more  widely 
to  the  east  than  when  Champlain  arrived  sixty  years 
later. 

The  following  day  "  the  lord  of  Canada  "  came  down 
the  river  with  twelve  canoes  and  many  people.  His 
name  was  Donnacona,  and  his  title  was  Agouhanna, 
which  we  shall  translate  by  the  more  appropriate  word 
chief.  The  consequent  ceremonies  became  familiar  in 
after  years,  but  they  were  new  to  Cartier.  The  long 
harangues,  with  "  surprising  movements  of  body  and 
limbs  "  and  the  dancing  astonished  him.  Then  Donna- 
cona came  on  board  the  captain's  ship,  and  Taignoagny 
and  Domagaya  told  him  of  the  wonders  they  had  seen  in 
France  and  of  the  kind  treatment  they  had  received ;  at 
which  the  chief's  welcome  became  more  demonstrative. 
The  interview  closed  by  Cartier  getting  into  Donnacona's 
canoe  and  ordering  bread  and  wine  to  be  brought  for 
him  and  his  party,  which  pleased  them  all.  As  soon  as 
the  Indians  left  Cartier  got  out  his  boats  and  started  up 
the  river  to  find  a  secure  harbour.  He  followed  the 
north  channel,  and  at  the  end  of  the  island  he  came  upon 
a  very  beautiful  and  pleasant  bay  (the  basin  of  Quebec 
harbour),  and  they  found  a  small  river  falling  into  it, 
with  a  bar  with  two  or  three  fathoms  upon  it  at  high 
water.  This  Cartier  settled  upon  as  a  suitable  place  in 
which  to  lay  up  his  vessels  in  safety.  He  did  not  move 
them  there  until  Holy  Cross  Day,  September  14,  and  for 
that  reason  he  named  the  place  Sainte  Croix.  The  little 
river  is  now  called  the  Saint  Charles. 

In  September  the  environs  of  Quebec  are  at  the  height 
of  that  beauty  which  is  equalled  by  very  few  of  the  most 
favoured  localities  in  the  world.  The  great  river  con- 
tracts to  the  narrowest  point  in  its  whole  course.    The 


i62    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Island  of  Orleans  divides  the  channel  below,  and,  above, 
the  river  sweeps  round  in  a  curve  from  the  southwest. 
In  front  of  the  city  is  a  deep  basin,  forming  a  harbour, 
where  the  largest  ships  afloat  may  swing  at  anchor  with 
the  flowing  or  ebbing  tide.  The  blue  hills  close  the 
horizon  with  the  rounded  outlines  characteristic  of  the 
Laurentides,  and  curve  round  in  a  vast  amphitheatre 
clothed  with  forest  and  sloping  down  to  the  border  of 
level  land  on  the  margin.  Just  as  the  river  begins  to 
expand  the  northern  bank  rises  to  the  lofty  prom- 
ontory of  Cape  Diamond,  and  at  that  point  the  little 
river  St.  Charles  falls  in  at  an  acute  angle.  A  populous 
suburb  of  the  city  has  extended  across  and  obscured  its 
beauty,  but  the  memory  of  the  older  men  of  the  present 
generation  vividly  reproduces  the  lovely  stream  winding 
in  long  curves  through  the  meadow  lands  interspersed 
with  groves  of  elms  and  maples.  Few  who  have  seen 
Quebec  can  ever  forget  its  charm,  and  Cartier's  narra- 
tive rises  out  of  its  log-book  style  as  he  tells  of  the  rich 
and  fruitful  land,  the  beautiful  trees,  as  fine  as  any  in 
France,  the  oaks,  the  elms,  the  ash  trees,  the  chestnuts, 
the  cedars,  the  hawthorns.  The  Island  of  Orleans  par- 
ticularly excited  his  admiration  for  its  beauty  and  fertil- 
ity, and,  from  the  quantity  of  vines  upon  it,  he  named  it 
the  Isle  of  Bacchus.  Donnacona  and  his  people  assidu- 
ously assisted  at  his  exploration  of  the  vicinity,  but  it  is 
evident  that  if  the  old  chief  had  not  possessed  so 
remarkable  a  gift  of  oratory  Cartier  would  have  been 
better  pleased.  These  preachments  {preschcmcnts),  al- 
though enlivened  by  dancing  and  gesticulation,  must 
have  been  tedious  in  the  Huron  language,  or  in  any 
other;  but  all  who  in  future  years  came  in  contact  with 
the  Huron-Iroquios  race  had  to  learn  to  endure  them 
without  wincing. 

The  place  which  Cartier  had  selected  for  his  winter 
settlement  was  a  point  less  than  two  miles  up  the  St. 
Croix  (St.  Charles)  River,  where  a  small  stream,  now 
called  the  Lairet,  falls  in.  At  the  point  of  junction  he 
ordered  a  fort  to  be  built,  and  the  Quebec  people  have 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    163 

marked  the  site  by  a  monument,  inaugurated  at  a  national 
fete  with  orations  which  would  have  deHghted  the  old 
Huron  chief  could  he  have  heard  them.  The  Indian 
town  of  Stadacona  was  situated  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  valley  of  the  St.  Charles,  on  the  Coteau  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve, sloping  down  to  the  bank  of  the  little  river  on  the 
reverse  side  of  Cape  Diamond ;  for  these  Huron- 
Iroquois  were  sedentary  tribes,  with  fixed  habitations, 
and  cultivated,  to  some  extent  and  in  a  rude  manner,  the 
adjacent  land. 

The  two  larger  vessels  were  warped  into  their  winter 
dock  in  the  St.  Charles  River  on  the  14th,  and 
Cartier  had  marks  (balises)  placed  in  the  stream  to  in- 
dicate the  channel ;  but  his  mind  was  set  upon  going 
further  up  the  river  to  the  chief  city  of  the  next  kingdom 
westwards,  for  he  had  heard  from  his  Indian  inter- 
preters of  its  importance.  He,  therefore,  left  the  Eme- 
rillon  out  in  the  stream,  and  called  upon  Taignoagny  and 
Domagaya  to  fulfil  their  promise  and  go  with  him  to 
Hochelaga.  At  first  they  assented,  but  a  sudden  change 
came  over  them  and  they  showed  by  their  conduct  dis- 
trust and  ill-will  towards  the  French.  They  would  no 
longer  enter  the  ships  at  the  captain's  invitation,  and 
would  stay  apart  with  a  band  of  their  people  on  a  neigh- 
bouring point  of  land.  Taignoagny,  who  in  fickleness 
was  a  typical  Huron,  came  forward  and  told  Cartier  that 
Donnacona  was  grieved  because  the  French  always  wore 
their  arms  while  the  Indians  went  unarmed.  Cartier 
replied  that  the  French  always  wore  their  arms  when  at 
home,  as  he  and  Domagaya  well  knew.  Taignoagny 
turned  out  to  be  a  treacherous  rascal.  He  could  not  be 
blamed  for  taking  part  with  his  own  people  and  putting 
them  up  to  the  slight  value  of  the  presents  the  strangers 
were  scattering  around,  but  later  on  Cartier  learned 
that  he  was  stirring  up  mischief,  and  that  the  proposal 
for  the  French  to  lay  aside  their  arms  originated  with 
him. 

That  cloud  passed  away  and  the  Indians  crowded 
around  the  ships  again;  but  the  two  interpreters  told 


1 64    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Cartier  that  they  would  not  go  to  Hochelaga,  and  that 
Donnacona  was  sorry  that  Cartier  wanted  to  go,  and  that 
he  had  forbidden  all  his  people  to  take  part  in  the  pro- 
posed expedition.  Every  possible  effort  was  put  forth 
to  dissuade  Cartier  from  his  purpose,  and  the  ill-will  and 
malice  of  Taignoagny  was  evident  through  it  all.  As  a 
last  resource  the  Indians  concocted  a  piece  of  theatrical 
deviltry.  The  Indians  assembled  in  large  numbers  in 
the  woods  near  the  ships  and,  suddenly  at  the  set  time,  a 
canoe  came  swiftly  down  the  river  containing  three  men 
dressed  in  dogskins  with  faces  blackened  and  with  long 
horns.  They  passed  the  French  without  turning  their 
heads  and  went  on  towards  the  shore.  The  middle 
devil  made  a  speech,  and,  as  soon  as  the  canoe  touched 
land,  all  three  fell  down,  as  if  dead.  The  Indians  carried 
them  all  into  the  woods  and  made  the  whole  place  re- 
sound with  their  bowlings.  At  last  Taignoagny  and 
Domagaya  came  out  with  gestures  of  consternation,  and 
with  many  exclamations  told  Cartier  that  their  god 
Cudragny  had  sent  them  word  from  Hochelaga  that 
there  was  so  much  ice  and  snow  that  it  would  be  death 
for  anyone  to  go  there.  Much  palavering  follov/ed,  with 
yells  and  dancing,  as  the  Indians  swarmed  out  of  the 
woods  on  hearing  Cartier's  contemptuous  reply  to  this 
jugglery,  and  then  the  interpreters  told  him  that  Donna- 
cona would  not  consent  to  let  them  go  unless  they  left 
hostages  to  stay  with  him  until  the  expedition  returned. 
Unmoved  by  the  representations  and  jugglery  of  the 
Indians  and  by  the  defection  of  his  promised  guides, 
Cartier  started,  at  the  turn  of  the  tide,  on  the  following 
morning  (September  19),  with  the  Emerillon  and  two 
boats.  It  was  a  bold  undertaking  in  view  of  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  Indians  and  the  evident  malice  of  Taig- 
noagny. He  took  with  him  fifty  sailors  and  all  the 
gentlemen  companions  on  the  expedition.  He  soon 
passed  the  narrowest  point,  and  the  great  river  spread  out 
to  a  width  of  from  two  to  three  miles.  Its  course  is 
approximately  directly  from  the  southwest,  and  it  flows 
through  the  alluvial  plain  with  few  windings,  looking 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    165 

more  like  an  arm  of  the  sea  than  a  river.  On  both  sides 
the  rich  plain  spreads  out  level  to  the  far  distance.  The 
voyagers  were  delighted.  Better  land,  reports  Cartier, 
could  not  be  found  anywhere.  The  beauty  of  the  trees 
pleased  him,  and  the  profusion  with  which  the  native 
vines  grew  surprised  him.  They  almost  seemed,  as  he 
thought,  to  have  been  planted.  The  grapes  were  not  so 
large  and  sweet  as  in  France,  but  that  he  ascribes  to 
want  of  pruning  and  cultivation.  He  found  huts  along 
the  banks,  for  many  of  the  people  were  fishing,  and  they 
came  out  without  fear  to  greet  the  strangers  and  to 
bring  them  fish.  At  a  distance  of  twenty-five  leagues 
from  "  Canada  "  (Stadacona)  he  came  to  a  place  called 
Ochelay  (variously  spelled  in  the  MSS.  and  versions, 
Achelay,  Hochelay,  Achelacy),  where  the  currents  are 
very  swift  and  dangerous  and  the  channel  is  obstructed 
with  large  stones.  The  place  is  called  the  Riche- 
lieu (from  an  island  there  so  named  by  Champlain,  who 
built  a  fort  upon  it),  and  ocean  steamships  time  their  de- 
parture from  Montreal  or  Quebec  so  as  to  pass  it  at  high 
tide.  It  appears  on  all  the  old  maps,  and  there  was  a  vil- 
lage near,  probably  at  what  is  now  called  Point  Platon,  a 
conspicuous  point  at  a  bend  of  the  river.  The  chief  of 
the  place  came  on  board  the  vessel  with  demonstrations 
of  welcome.  He  presented  Cartier  with  two  of  his 
children,  but  the  captain  would  accept  only  one,  a  little 
girl  of  seven  or  eight  years.  This  little  girl  survived  all 
the  other  Indians  whom  Cartier  carried  to  France  the 
following  spring.  The  distance  as  given,  25  leagues, 
is  far  too  great.  It  is  really  only  35  statute  miles. 
The  total  distance  from  Quebec  to  Montreal  is  really 
160  statute  miles,  but  Lescarbot  puts  it  down  as  200 
leagues.  The  name  Richelieu,  given  later  to  this  place 
by  Champlain,  has  led  to  much  misconception  among 
writers  who  do  not  know  the  locality,  and  even  an 
accurate  scholar  like  D'Avezac  takes  the  name  of  the 
chief  to  be  Ochelay,  and  supposes  a  river  to  exist  there, 
which  he  calls  the  Richelieu.  The  River  Richelieu  is 
seventy-five  miles  further  up,  and  is  at  the  western  end 


i66    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

of  Lake  St.  Peter.  It  is  very  surprising  also  that  Char- 
levoix, Lescarbot  and  Pere  Le  Tac  should  suppose  that 
Cartier  wintered  at  this  very  dangerous  point ;  in  .fact, 
more  misconceptions  have  gathered  round  this  locality 
than  round  any  other  spot  on  the  river. 

On  the  28th  they  arrived  at  the  expanse  now  called 
Lake  St.  Peter.  It  is  not  recorded  that  Cartier 
named  it,  but  on  the  maps  made  in  his  time  it  is  put 
down  as  Lac  d'Angoulesme,  after  the  title  of  Francis 
before  his  accession.  At  the  western  end  of  the  lake  he 
found  no  inlet,  and  the  water  which  had  been  two 
fathoms  all  over  the  lake  fell  to  one  fathom  and  a  half ; 
so  he  anchored  the  Emerillon  and  searched  for  the  chan- 
nel in  his  boats.  Three  important  rivers  fall  in  close 
together  from  the  south,  the  Richelieu,  the  Yamaska,  and 
the  St.  Francis,  and  from  the  north  another,  the  Mask- 
inonge,  and  at  their  junction  with  the  St.  Lawrence  they 
form  an  archipelago  of  low  islands,  in  which  it  is  very 
easy  to  miss  the  channel.  Cartier  observed  by  the  banks 
that  it  was  the  season  of  lowest  water,  and  that  there 
had  been  three  fathoms  more  upon  the  bars  at  high 
water.  He  decided  to  leave  the  Emerillon  there  and 
make  the  rest  of  his  journey  in  his  two  boats.  There 
he  met  five  Indians,  who  came  on  board  without  the 
least  hesitation,  and  when  the  boats  touched  the  bank 
one  of  the  Indians  lifted  Cartier  in  his  arms  and  carried 
him  to  shore  as  easily  as  if  he  had  been  a  child.  From 
them  he  learned,  by  signs,  that  he  was  still  on  the  right 
way  to  Hochelaga. 

It  was  the  2d  of  October  when  the  boats  arrived  at 
Hochelaga.  More  than  a  thousand  people  came  down  to 
the  bank,  manifesting  their  welcome  by  dancing — men, 
women,  and  children  in  separate  bands,  and  they  loaded 
the  boats  with  fish  and  bread  made  into  cakes  from  their 
corn.  Cartier  made  them  presents  as  they  clustered 
round  him  when  he  landed.  They  brought  their 
children  in  arms  to  touch  the  strangers.  No  wel- 
come could  be  warmer,  and  when  evening  came  and  the 
Frenchmen   went   to  their  boats   for   supper   and   sleep 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    167 

the  Indians  made  fires  and  danced  all  night  on  the  shore 
adjacent.  Early  the  following  morning  Cartier  and  his 
people  put  on  their  best  accoutrements  and  prepared  to 
visit  the  town.  He  had  with  him  his  gentlemen  com- 
panions and  twenty-eight  sailors.  The  boats  were  left 
in  charge  of  eight  men  at  a  place  now  called  Hochelaga, 
below  the  current  St.  Mary.  It  is  the  eastern  suburb  of 
the  present  city  of  Montreal,  and  the  river  runs  there 
with  a  current  of  eight  miles  an  hour.  The  Indian 
town  was  about  two  leagues  away,  and,  from  the  descrip- 
tion in  the  narrative,  was  upon  the  first  rise  or  terrace  on 
which  the  present  city  stands,  somewhere  near  the  site 
of  the  present  Windsor  Hotel,  or  of  St.  James  Cathedral 
on  Dorchester  Street.  Cartier  took  three  Indians  as 
guides,  and,  well  armed  and  in  regular  order,  marched 
up  along  a  thoroughly  well  beaten  road  to  the  town. 
After  a  league  and  a  half  they  came  to  a  large  fire, 
where  a  chief,  surrounded  by  many  attendants,  made 
signs  that  they  were  to  rest.  The  bonfire  of  welcome 
still  persists  among  the  remains  of  the  Iroquois  tribes 
on  the  Grand  River  in  Ontario.  Then  followed  the 
usual  preachment  and  giving  of  presents.  A  half  a 
league  further  the  cultivated  fields  of  Indian  corn  com- 
menced, and  in  the  midst  was  Hochelaga,  near  to  the 
mountain. 

Ramusio  has  handed  down  to  us  a  plan  of  this  town, 
upon  what  authority  based  is  not  known.  The  following 
illustration  fairly  represents  the  written  description  of 
the  narrative,  and  will  give  an  approximate  idea  of  the 
construction  of  the  towns  of  the  Huron-Iroquois  race. 
It  was  circular  in  outline,  and  surrounded  by  a  stockade 
of  three  rows  of  upright  timbers.  The  centre  row  was 
perpendicular,  and  the  inner  and  outer  rows  leaned  to- 
wards each  other  inward  and  touched,  so  that,  in  section, 
the  rampart  was  pyramidal.  The  wall  was  about  the 
height  of  two  lances,  and  on  the  outside  the  framework 
was  tied  together  and  made  solid  by  timbers,  laid  length- 
wise all  around.  Inside,  at  a  convenient  height,  a  plat- 
form ran  round  the  rampart  with  a  store  of  stones  ready 


1 68    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

to  repel  assailants.  One  door  only  pierced  the  rampart, 
and  inside  there  were  about  fifty  houses  surrounding  a 
public  square  where  the  inhabitants  could  make  fires. 
The  houses  were  about  fifty  paces  long  by  twelve  or 
fifteen  wide.  They  were  covered  with  bark  and  above 
they  had  storerooms  for  food.  The  people  of  each  house 
ate  in  common,  cooking  their  food  by  the  same  fire 
made  upon  a  spot  of  earth  left  in  the  centre  of  every 
house,  and  each  family  had  its  own  room. 

Cartier  then  goes  on  to  describe  their  method  of  mak- 
ing bread.  Maize  he  saw  for  the  first  time,  and  he  called 
up  his  Brazilian  experience  to  describe  it.  "  It  is  as 
large  or  larger  than  peas,  and  like  the  millet  of  Brazil." 
He  describes  the  wampum  which  answered  for  money, 
and  gives  a  far-fetched  account  of  how  it  is  obtained. 
We  must  not,  however,  suppose,  with  Hakluyt,  that  the 
melons  he  saw  were  muskmelons,  and  wander  with 
others  into  far-fetched  theories  of  unknown  Europeans 
having  brought  the  seed  at  unknown  times.  They  were 
the  pumpkins  and  squashes  indigenous  to  America  and 
cultivated  everywhere  by  the  Indians.  They  are  called  by 
later  writers  citrouilles  du  pays,  or  citrouillcs  Iroquoiscs. 

Cartier  and  his  companions  entered  the  town  and  met 
with  the  warmest  possible  welcome.  Men,  women,  and 
children  crowded  around  seeking  only  to  touch  them, 
and  bringing  their  babies  to  have  them  touched  by  the 
strangers,  whom  they  took  for  superhuman  beings. 
Then  mats  were  laid,  and  when  he  and  his  company  were 
seated  they  brought  their  sick  and  lame  and  blind  to  be 
healed ;  and  among  them  their  great  chief  or  agou- 
hanna,  and  signed  to  Cartier  to  stroke  his  palsied  limbs. 
At  this  part  of  the  narrative  we  should  expect  the  priest 
to  come  forward,  if  there  was  one  in  the  party.  Evi- 
dently there  was  none,  for  Cartier,  touched  with  pity  for 
the  groundless  confidence  of  these  poor  people,  repeated 
the  "  In  principio  " — the  first  part  of  the  first  chapter  of 
St.  John's  Gospel — and  signed  them  with  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  praying  that  God  might  give  them  knowledge  of 
tlie  faith  and  grace  to  receive  Christianity  and  baptism. 


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CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    169 

Then  he  took  his  "  Book  of  Hours,"  or  Prayer  Book,  and 
slowly  read  the  story  of  Our  Lord's  Passion,  word  by 
w^ord,  pointing  to  heaven  and  making  other  gestures  of 
devotion,  the  Indians  all  the  while  listening  with  great 
attention.  When  we  compare  the  conduct  of  this  brave 
and  simple  sailor  with  that  of  the  reckless  swash- 
bucklers w^ho  in  the  southern  parts  of  America  for  the 
most  part  abused  the  confidence  of  the  natives,  we  can- 
not but  feel  touched  with  the  childlike  faith  of  the  Bre- 
ton captain,  who  relates  it  so  simply,  and  impressed  with 
the  true  instinct  which  suggested  his  selection  for  read- 
ing. It  was  a  happy  augury  for  the  fair  city  of  future 
years  that  the  opening  words  of  St.  John's  Gospel  and 
the  recital  of  the  Passion  of  Our  Lord  inaugurated  its 
appearance  on  the  field  of  history.  Might  it  perchance 
be  that  some  charm  lingered  on  the  leafy  slopes  of 
Mount  Royal  and  spread  up  the  diverging  streams  of 
the  great  valley? — for  in  all  that  land  persecution  has 
never  reared  its  hateful  head,  and  there  are  no  arrears  of 
religious  violence  and  bloodshed  in  its  history  to  be 
atoned  for. 

Cartier  and  his  people  ascended  the  mountain,  and  his 
narrative  witnesses  to  the  deep  impression  the  view  from 
its  summit  made  upon  his  mind.  Looking  in  the  direc- 
tion of  all  his  efforts — the  mysterious  west — he  saw  the 
Ottawa  River  opened  out  into  the  Lake  of  the  Two 
Mountains — to  the  southwest  was  the  main  flood  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  broadened  in  its  far  distance  into  Lake  St. 
Louis.  Nearer,  and  of  a  still  evening  within  hearing, 
were  the  rapids  where  the  great  river  rushes  down  forty- 
five  feet  in  seven  miles.  On  his  right,  on  the  north,  was 
the  Laurentian  range  in  the  dim  distance  fringing  the 
fertile  valley,  and  on  the  south  were  the  Adirondack 
Mountains  of  New  York  and  the  Green  Mountains  of 
Vermont,  looking  far  nearer  in  the  clear  October  air 
than  they  really  were.  Three  detached  hills  sprang  up 
through  the  forest-clad  plain  on  the  south.  All  these 
Cartier  noted,  and  on  turning  he  saw  the  Indian  town 
just  below,  and  his  boats  five  miles  away  lying  at  the  foot 


1 70    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

of  the  current.  He  again  grew  enthusiastic  over  the 
beautiful  level  valley,  and  he  called  the  place  Mont 
Royal.  It  still  bears  that  name,  and  has  communicated 
it  to  the  busy  city  of  Montreal,  which  lies  below,  and  is 
fast  encircling  it. 

Cartier's  guides  tried  to  understand  and  answer  his 
questions,  but  with  little  success.  He  gathered  from 
them  that  the  river  he  saw  flowing  from  the  west  sur- 
rounded the  Saguenay  country,  and  that  from  the  same 
country  came  metal  like  some  red  copper  he  showed 
them.  From  the  narrative  it  is  clear  that  the  Saguenay 
of  the  Hochelagans  was  the  far  west  of  the  upper  lakes. 
At  last  the  day  of  novel  incidents  drew  to  a  close,  and 
the  Frenchmen  turned  back  towards  their  boats.  Such 
of  them  as  seemed  tired  the  Indians  took  up  and  carried 
on  their  backs.  The  Indians  parted  with  their  strange 
guests  with  sorrow,  and  followed  the  boats  along  the 
river  bank  until  night  closed  in.  The  day  was  Sunday. 
Many  churches  now  adorn  the  city,  and  near  where  Car- 
tier  stood  when  he  read  to  the  wondering  Indians  of  the 
Passion  of  Our  Lord  stands  a  stately  cathedral,  but  that 
first  day  in  Montreal  with  its  service  of  intercession  and 
the  simple  appealing  prayer  of  the  devout  sailor  captain 
still  touclies  the  religious  imagination  through  the  mists 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

It  did  not  take  long  to  reach  the  EincriUon  at  the  head 
of  Lake  St.  Peter.  They  stopped  at  the  present  Three 
Rivers  on  the  way  down  and  searched  the  lower  reach  of 
the  St.  Maurice.  Cartier  called  it  the  Rnncrc  dii  Foncz, 
a  name  which  has  puzzled  many ;  but  Cartier  was  not 
strong  in  orthography,  and,  to  borrow  the  words  of  Les- 
carbot,  "  I  think  he  meant  Foix."  On  Monday, 
October  ii,  he  arrived  at  the  "Province  of  Canada" 
and  the  "  Harbour  of  St.  Croix."  He  found  that  his 
crew  had  worked  faithfully  during  his  absence  and  had 
constructed  a  fort  with  heavy  timber  close  to  the  ships, 
and  mounted  cannon  and  made  the  place  defensible 
against  any  force  the  natives  could  bring  against  it. 

The  extreme  western  point  of  exploration   for  sixty 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    171 

years  to  come  had  now  been  reached,  and  it  is  un- 
necessary to  dwell  at  length  upon  the  relations  between 
Cartier's  people  and  the  Indians  of  Stadacona.  They 
were  glad  to  welcome  him  back,  and  he  went  in  formal 
state  to  visit  Donnacona  and  the  town.  He  found  the 
houses  well  stocked  with  food  for  the  winter,  and  the 
chief  showed  him  five  scalps  stretched  on  wood.  They 
had  been  taken  from  a  hostile  tribe  called  Toudamans, 
dwelling  to  the  south,  with  whom  his  people  were  con- 
stantly at  war.  These  we  shall  meet  with  in  Champlain's 
time  as  IMohawks.  Cartier  again  betrays  the  extent  of 
his  voyaging  by  remarking  that  the  Indians  lived  in  a 
community  of  goods  "  as  is  the  custom  in  Brazil."  He 
saw  tobacco  for  the  first  time,  and  his  description  of  the 
way  the  men  filled  themselves  up  with  smoke  until  it 
poured  out  of  their  mouths  and  nostrils  as  out  of  a 
chimney  stack  is  very  quaint.  The  town  was  a  league 
distant  from  the  ships,  and  the  natives  came  down,  at 
first,  in  crowds  to  visit  them,  but  Taignoagny  and 
Domagaya  sowed  distrust  between  them  and  the  French, 
so  that  the  chief  of  Hagonchenda,  a  neighbouring  town, 
as  well  as  some  of  the  people  of  Canada  (Stadacona) 
warned  Cartier  to  be  on  his  guard.  Nor  is  it  necessary 
to  repeat  his  favourable  descriptions  of  the  country,  the 
birds,  the  beasts,  the  fishes,  and  the  trees.  Vague  ac- 
counts reached  him  of  the  Saguenay,  by  which  name  he 
indicates  a  region  west  of  Hochelaga,  for  he  thought  the 
Ottawa  beyond  Montreal  joined  the  Saguenay.  He 
heard  also  of  two  or  three  great  lakes,  evidently  the  ex- 
pansions of  the  St.  Lawrence,  west  of  Montreal,  and  of  a 
great  lake  of  fresh  water,  of  which  no  one  had  seen  the 
end.  The  Indians  had  not  been  there,  but  had  heard  of 
it  from  the  people  of  Saguenay.  He  heard  also  of  a 
river  (the  Richelieu)  leading  to  the  southwest,  where, 
after  a  month's  travel,  one  would  reach  a  region  where 
there  is  no  ice  or  snow,  and  oranges,  apples,  nuts,  and 
almonds  and  other  fruits  grow  in  abundance.  The  peo- 
ple there  are  constantly  at  war.  Cartier  thought  by  their 
signs   and  marks   that  this   country   was   near   Florida. 


172    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Thus  early  was  the  wonderful  river  system  of  Canada 
indicated  by  the  rough  diagrams  of  the  natives. 

Cartier  strengthened  his  fort  as  the  distrust  grew 
deeper,  and  prepared  for  the  coming  winter  as  well  as 
one  might  who  had  never  known  what  a  winter  in 
Canada  could  be.  Still,  in  all  his  trouble,  he  does  not 
complain  of  the  cold,  unusual  as  he  found  it  to  be ;  nor 
did  any  of  his  people  suffer  from  frost.  As  December 
came  in  he  discovered  that  the  Indians  were  suffering 
from  some  disease,  and  he  stopped  communication  for 
fear  of  contagion;  but  in  vain.  It  was  scurvy, — land 
scurvy, — and  the  same  conditions  and  the  same  food 
brought  it  among  the  Frenchmen.  Day  by  day  they 
grew  weaker  and  weaker,  and  the  disease,  with  all  its 
loathsome  symptoms,  attacked  man  after  man,  until 
there  were  barely  ten  men  of  the  whole  crew  in  good 
health.  It  speaks  well  for  Cartier  and  his  men  that  no 
sign  of  insubordination  showed  itself.  This  was  no 
"  motley  crew,"  as  injuriously  represented  by  a  learned 
writer  in  a  moment  of  negligence,  and  they  had  not,  in  a 
body,  partaken  of  the  sacrament  at  the  cathedral  of  St. 
Malo  unworthily.  Patiently  they  bore  the  infliction  of 
an  unknown  and  dreadful  malady  in  all  obedience  and 
without  a  murmur ;  but  as  they  tried  to  bury  their  dead 
comrades  and  had  to  leave  the  bodies  in  the  deep  snow 
because  they  had  not  strength  to  dig  the  frozen  ground, 
they  lost  all  hope  of  seeing  France  again.  The  surround- 
ings were  strange  and  threatened  new  and  mysterious 
dangers.  Shut  up  in  the  heart  of  an  unknown  continent, 
wasted  by  an  unknown  disease,  the  ships  fast  in  ice- 
bound waters,  the  ground  covered  with  snow,  such  as 
they  had  never  seen  before  in  depth,  surrounded  by 
strange  tribes  whose  good  will  they  had  reason  to  mis- 
trust, it  is  no  wonder  their  hearts  sank  and  increasing 
discouragement  increased  their  predisposition  to  disease. 
In  this  very  darkness  and  shadow  of  death  they  fell  back 
for  help  and  comfort  upon  the  teachings  of  their  Church. 
About  a  bowshot  from  the  ships  they  erected  a  statue 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  Cartier  ordered  mass  to  be  said 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    173 

there  on  the  following  Sunday.  On  that  day  all  who 
could  walk  went  in  procession,  singing  the  Seven  Pen- 
itential Psalms  and  the  Litany,  and  mass  was  celebrated 
and  prayer  offered  for  the  intercession  of  Our  Lady  in 
their  behalf.  They  were,  in  truth,  in  sore  distress.  That 
same  day  Philippe  Rougemont  died,  a  youth  of  twenty-two 
years,  and  an  autopsy  was  held  to  see  if,  perchance,  the 
cause  of  the  malady  might  be  found.  The  appearances 
now  so  well  known  gave  no  clew  to  the  origin  of  the 
disease,  and  it  raged  unchecked  until  only  three  sound 
men  remained  in  the  whole  crew.  Cartier  himself  kept 
well,  and  used  every  means  to  conceal  from  the  Indians 
the  weakness  of  his  party.  They  were  kept  away  and  led 
to  suppose  work  was  being  done  in  the  fort  and  ships. 
His  ingenuity  and  resource  as  captain  were  exercised  to 
the  utmost,  and  with  success,  for  the  Indians  did  not  dis- 
cover the  helplessness  of  the  strangers. 

At  last  the  tide  turned.  Donnacona,  Taignoagny,  and 
many  of  their  people  were  away  on  their  winter's  hunt, 
but  Domagaya  had  remained,  and  Cartier  met  him  well 
and  strong,  although  he  had  seen  him,  only  ten  days  be- 
fore, grievously  afflicted  by  disease.  In  answer  to  his 
inquiries  Domagaya  told  him  of  the  healing  virtues  of  a 
tree  called  ameda.  On  Cartier's  explaining  that  one  of 
his  servants  was  sick,  Domagaya  got  two  women  to 
bring  branches  and  show  how  to  make  an  extract  for 
drinking  from  the  leaves  and  bark,  and  how  to  apply 
the  residue  to  the  inflamed  limbs.  One  or  two  at  first 
doubtfully  drank  of  the  extract,  but  its  beneficial  power 
was  immediately  felt,  and  so  eager  were  the  others  for 
the  remedy  that  they  quickly  used  up  a  tree  as  large  as  an 
oak  in  preparing  it.  The  effect  was  miraculous,  for  in 
six  days  all  the  crew  were  sound  and  well.  They  would 
never  have  seen  France  again,  writes  Cartier,  "  unless 
God  in  His  infinite  goodness  and  mercy  had  not  looked 
upon  them  in  pity  and  given  them  knowledge  of  a  remedy 
against  all  diseases,  the  most  excellent  that  was  ever 
seen  or  known  in  all  the  earth."  Twenty-five  persons, 
among  the  best  and  most  companionable  of  the  crew, 


174    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

died  of  the  disease.  Cartier,  with  his  usual  good  judg- 
ment, Hmits  the  miracle  to  the  apparent  accident  of  the 
way  he  obtained  knowledge  of  the  remedy  by  his  meet- 
ing with  Domagaya;  but  some  late  writers  go  further, 
and,  forgetting  that  the  pagan  Indians  partook  of  the 
benefit  to  an  equal  extent  as  the  Frenchmen,  imagine  that 
the  virtues  of  the  tree  were  specially  conferred  and  did 
not  avail  on  subsequent  occasions.  The  tree  has  been  the 
subject  of  much  discussion.  It  is  now  known  as  balsam 
fir,  Abies  halsamca,  and  will  be  found  among  medicinal 
trees  in  the  United  States  pharmacopoeia. 

From  the  middle  of  November,  1535,  to  April  15, 
1536,  the  ships  were  shut  in.  The  ice  was  two  fathoms 
thick,  so  Cartier  reports,  and  doubtless  it  seemed  very 
thick  to  his  unaccustomed  eye ;  but  the  snow  was  only 
four  feet  deep,  so  probably  the  measurements  should  be 
interchanged,  and  then  largely  abated.  Naturally  all 
the  drinkable  liquids  were  frozen,  and  the  ice  was  four 
inches  thick  on  the  sides  of  the  vessel.  What  is  re- 
markable is  the  courage  and  continued  subordination  of 
the  men.  We  need  not  dwell  upon  the  other  incidents  of 
the  winter.  Monotonous  and  weary  as  it  was,  spring 
came  at  last,  and  the  vessels  were  got  out  into  the  main 
river,  but  there  were  not  men  enough  left  to  navigate  all 
three,  and  La  Petite  Hermine  was  abandoned  and  the  hull 
given  to  some  Indians  of  a  neighbouring  village  for  the 
sake  of  the  iron,  so  precious  to  savages.  Donnacona 
had  returned  from  his  hunt,  but  a  very  large  number 
of  Indians  had  come  with  him — a  gathering  quite 
unaccountable,  Cartier  thought,  unless  in  contemplation 
of  mischief,  though  it  might  well  have  resulted  from  a 
natural  curiosity  to  see  the  strangers.  Taignoagny 
was  back  and  scheming  in  his  characteristic  manner. 
The  huts  in  Stadacona  were  full  of  men,  and  Donnacona 
feigned  illness,  so  as  to  avoid  seeing  Cartier's  messengers 
or  allowing  them  to  enter  the  house.  Taignoagny  was 
a  characteristic  type  of  Huron,  and  tried  to  engage 
Cartier  to  carry  off  one  of  the  chiefs  who  apparently 
stood  in  his  way.     But  Cartier  was  meditating  a  plan 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE   175 

to  carry  off  Donnacona,  Taignoagny,  and  five  or  six  of 
the  chief  men  besides. 

Donnacona  was  a  man  past  middle  age,  who  had  seen  a 
great  deal  of  the  country,  and  he  was  addicted  to  telling 
very  astonishing  tales  of  things  seen  on  his  extensive  ex- 
cursions in  the  west,  in  the  fabulous  Saguenay  region. 
Infinite  gold  and  silver  might  be  found  there,  with  rubies 
and  other  riches.  Another  country  he  had  visited  where 
the  natives  never  ate,  and  had  no  occasion  to  digest,  and 
still  another  where  the  people  have  only  one  leg.  Such 
facts  as  these  related  to  the  King  of  France  by  a  poten- 
tate as  important  and  as  widely  travelled  as  the  "  lord  of 
Canada  "  would  carry  conviction  and  lead  to  future  voy- 
ages. Donnacona  was  a  victim  to  his  own  imagination, 
for  Cartier  felt  that  he  needed  him  in  France. 

On  May  3  the  ships  were  ready  to  sail,  and  by  a  sud- 
den manoeuvre  Cartier  seized  Donnacona  and  the  other 
men  he  wanted.  The  Indians  howled  and  lamented  all 
night,  and  next  day  Donnacona  was  set  up  to  speak  to 
them,  and  told  them  that  Cartier  had  promised  to  treat 
him  well,  and  would  certainly  bring  him  back  the  follow- 
ing year,  and  that  the  King  would  give  him  great  pres- 
ents. This  partly  reconciled  the  people,  and  Cartier 
allowed  the  leading  men  to  come  on  board  and  talk  to 
their  chief,  and  the  same  communication  was  permitted 
until  the  ships  finally  got  away.  It  was  not  a  proceeding 
to  be  proud  of,  for  it  savoured  strongly  of  the  very 
treachery  they  had  suspected  in  the  Indians.  Compared, 
however,  with  the  conduct  of  other  nations  toward  these 
wild  people,  that  of  the  French  was  very  humane.  They 
did  not  take  these  poor  Indians  as  slaves ;  but  with  the 
intention  of  treating  them  kindly,  teaching  them  the 
Christian  religion,  and  bringing  them  back  to  their 
homes.  This  aspect  of  Christianity  does  not  accord  with 
present  notions  of  righteousness,  but  Cartier  must  be 
judged  by  the  practice  and  belief  current  in  his  time.  Of 
all  the  European  nations  who  came  in  contact  with  the 
Indians  the  French  have  ever  been  the  most  kind  and 
considerate. 


176    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

The  ships  got  away  on  May  6,  but  had  to  wait  at  Isle 
aux  Coudres  for  a  fair  wind  until  the  i6th,  and  Donna- 
cona's  people  visited  him  and  brought  presents  to  the  last 
moment.  Among  them  was  a  great  knife  of  red  copper, 
which  came  from  the  Saguenay  region,  showing  that 
there  was  communication  among  the  eastern  tribes  and 
those  on  Lake  Superior,  where  native  copper  was  found 
and  worked.  Cartier  returned  to  France  by  the  channel 
between  Gaspe  and  Anticosti,  which,  he  says  expressly, 
had  not  before  been  discovered.  The  wind  being  fair, 
he  sailed  day  and  night,  and  the  following  day  he  made 
Brion  Island.  This  was  the  point  he  sailed  for,  and  that 
he  should  have  struck  it  at  the  centre  shows  how  care- 
fully he  had  recorded  his  previous  courses.  The  "  Bref 
Recit "  must  be  corrected  by  the  three  manuscripts  and 
Lescarbot,  for  Cartier's  intention,  as  clearly  expressed 
in  the  same  sentence,  was  to  shorten  the  passage  home  by 
that  route.  He  gives  the  latitude  of  Brion  Island  as  47° 
30'.    It  is  really  47°  48'. 

From  Brion  Island  he  sailed  to  Magdalen  Island.  On 
his  first  voyage  he  had  struck  it  at  the  North  Cape  and 
coasted  along  its  western  shore.  Now  he  touched  at 
East  Cape  and  followed  down  the  eastern  coast.  He 
had  not  given  it  any  name  on  his  first  voyage,  but  now  he 
called  the  island  Les  Araynes, — the  sands, — and  so  we 
shall  find  it  in  various  languages  on  succeeding  maps, 
under  some  orthographic  modification  of  sablon  or 
arene.  The  wind  changed,  and  Cartier  could  not  make 
any  outward  progress,  so  he  went  back  to  Brion  Island. 

There  follows  now  the  most  obscure  passage  in  the 
narrative.  In  several  places  the  "  Bref  Recit "  is  clearly 
wrong  and  must  be  corrected  by  the  three  manuscripts. 
On  June  i  Cartier  set  sail  again  on  a  southeast  course 
from  Brion  Island,  and  he  went  to  examine  a  high 
land  which  appeared  to  be  an  island.  He  ranged  along 
the  coast  of  that  land  for  22|  leagues,  according  to  all 
three  manuscripts  and  Lescarbot.  The  "  Bref  Recit  "  says 
2i  leagues,  but  that  is  too  short  a  distance  to  be  called 
"  ranging  "  a  coast,  and  while  so  coasting  he  saw  three 


CARTIER'S  SECOND  VOYAGE    177 

high  islands,  which  were  towards  the  Araynes.  Here  we 
must  supply  from  the  three  manuscripts  and  Lescarbot 
an  omitted  sentence,  "  and  we  likewise  perceived  that  the 
Araynes  was  an  island  and  that  the  aforesaid  land  was 
certainly  a  high  and  continuous  mainland,  inclining  to 
the  northwest."  Cartier  had  been  coasting  some  distance 
down  the  western  shore  of  Cape  Breton,  and  the  three 
high  islands  were  three  lofty  capes  on  that  coast  looking 
toward  Les  Araynes.  The  passage  is  obscure,  but  the 
only  real  difficulty  is  the  direction  "  northwest,"  for  the 
whole  western  coast  of  these  lands — that  which  faces 
inwards  upon  the  Gulf — runs  to  the  east  of  north.  We 
must  suspect  an  error  in  copying. 

The  narrative  continues :  "  After  we  perceived  these 
things  we  returned  to  the  cape  of  th'e  aforesaid  land," 
that  is,  to  the  headland  of  the  coast  he  had  been  ranging, 
now  called  Cape  St.  Lawrence.  There  he  found  two  or 
three  capes  wonderfully  lofty,  with  a  great  depth  of 
water  and  a  strong  current,  thus  describing  accurately 
the  north  point  of  Cape  Breton  Island  with  its  two  bold 
headlands,  Cape  St.  Lawrence  and  Cape  North.  There 
is  a  bay  sweeping  round  between  them,  the  land  is  high 
and  steep  all  around,  the  water  is  deep  and  the  main 
outflow  of  the  River  St.  Lawrence  is  on  that  side  of  the 
strait.  On  the  same  day  they  arrived  at  Cape  Lor- 
raine— a  name  given  by  Cartier.  The  place  is  identified 
as  the  present  Cape  Ray  by  his  description ;  for  the  land 
is  low  at  the  shore  and  three  miles  inland  Table  Moun- 
tain rises  abruptly  1700  feet,  and  there  are  "  barachois," 
suggesting  a  river  mouth,  although,  as  Cartier  remarks, 
there  is  no  harbour  there  worth  anything.  The  lat- 
itude is  given  by  an  evident  error  at  46°  30'  instead  of 
47°  30',  as  it  is  in  Hakluyt ;  it  is  really  47°  ■};j' .  This 
is  made  clear  by  the  remark  that  they  saw  another  cape 
to  the  south  in  latitude  47°  15',  which  they  named  Cape 
St.  Paul,  The  place  is  now  known  as  St.  Paul's  Island, 
and  is  really  in  47°*  12'. 

The  dates  are  now  clear.  On  June  4,  Whitsunday, 
Cartier  recognised  that  he  was  on  the  coast  of  New- 


178    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

foundland,  running  east-south-east.  It  was  true  east, 
but  the  remark  showed  that  the  variation  experienced 
was  two  points  west,  not  quite  so  much  as  it  is  now. 
The  wind  turning  foul,  the  vessel  took  shelter  for  two 
days  at  a  harbour  they  named  dc  Saint  Esprit,  probably 
the  present  Port  aux  Basques.  Then  they  sailed  to  the 
well-known  island  of  St.  Pierre,  where  they  found 
French  and  Breton  fishing  vessels,  and  from  whence 
they  went  to  Cape  Race.  They  stopped  at  Rougnoze, 
the  present  Renews,  for  wood  and  water, — the  place  had 
been  known  by  that  name  since  1506, — and  from  thence 
Cartier  took  his  final  departure  for  St.  Malo,  where  he 
arrived  on  July  6,  after  a  prosperous  voyage  of  seven- 
teen days. 


CHAPTER    XII 

SOME  DISPUTED   POINTS   OF   CARTIEr's   VOYAGES 

WHEN  Cartier  returned  to  France  in  1536  Can- 
ada had  been  discovered  to  its  very  heart. 
Four  of  its  seven  provinces  had  been  revealed, 
and  at  Montreal  the  central  point  of  its  di- 
verging waterways  had  been  touched.  There  are,  how- 
ever, some  questions,  apart  from  the  discovery  of  the 
country,  which  demand  notice  from  everyone  who  may 
write  upon  the  subject.  These  voyages  are  a  never-fail- 
ing source  of  interest  in  Canada,  and  Canadians  have 
unceasingly  discussed  them ;  for  the  most  part  with  learn- 
ing and  diligence,  and  always  with  earnestness.  In  the 
United  States  also,  and  in  France,  they  have  occupied  the 
attention  of  many  scholars,  and  some  questions  concern- 
ing them  have  been  the  subject  of  warm  controversy. 

It  is  therefore  within  the  scope  of  this  volume  to 
inquire  what  were  the  tribes  or  races  of  Indians  with 
whom  Cartier  came  in  contact.  To  this  it  may  be  an- 
swered first  negatively — they  were  not  Esquimaux.  Car- 
tier  met  the  natives  first  on  the  Labrador  coast  near  Blanc 
Sablon.  He  describes  their  hair  as  twisted  on  the  top  of 
their  heads  and  tied  like  a  handful  of  hay ;  something  of 
the  nature  of  a  pin  was  passed  through  it  and  for  orna- 
ment they  used  birds'  feathers.  They  were  clothed  in 
the  skins  of  beasts  and  they  painted  themselves  with  dark 
reddish  colours.  But  the  characteristic  mark  is  that 
their  boats  were  made  of  birch  bark.  If  the  men  had  been 
Esquimaux  their  canoes  would  have  been  made  of  skins. 
Cartier,  however,  disposes  of  the  question  by  adding — 
"  Since  I  saw  them  I  have  learned  that  they  come  from 
warmer  countries  to  kill  seals  and  other  things  for  their 
sustenance."  Later  on,  v\^hen  returning,  he  met  some  of 
these    same    Indians    at    Cape    Thiennot    (Natashquan 

179 


i8o    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Point).  They  came  freely  on  board  and  told  him  that 
they  had  come  from  "  the  Grand  Bay  "  (Strait  of  Belle- 
Isle),  and  that  they  were  on  their  way  home  in  the  direc- 
tion whence  Cartier  was  returning-,  and  they  informed 
him  that  the  ships  (the  fishing  fleet)  had  sailed  from  the 
bay  laden  with  fish.  It  will  not  then  be  necessary  to 
discuss  the  migrations  of  the  Esquimaux ;  these  savages 
were  not  Esquimaux,  they  were  Montagnais. 

Cartier  on  his  first  voyage  saw  Indians  on  the  coast 
of  Prince  Edward  Island.  He  could  not  get  speech 
with  them,  but  durin^g  the  time  he  was  exploring 
Chaleur  Bay  and  waiting  for  fair  weather  in  Gaspe 
Basin  he  had  much  communication  with  the  natives. 
Those  he  met  in  Chaleur  Bay  at  first  attempted  to  sur- 
round one  of  his  boats,  and  he  fired  some  shots  to  frighten 
them,  but  afterwards  he  found  them  very  friendly.  He 
describes  those  he  met  at  Gaspe  as  very  poor,  going 
almost  naked,  and  their  whole  possessions,  excepting 
their  canoes  and  nets,  not  being  worth  five  sous.  They 
were  not  of  the  same  race  or  speech  as  the  Indians 
he  met  in  Chaleur  Bay.  Their  heads  v/ere  shaven,  ex- 
cepting one  lonjj  lock,  which  they  wound  upon  the  top 
of  their  heads  and  tied  with  thongs.  He  afterwards 
learned  that  Gaspe  was  not  their  home  and  that  they 
came  there  in  summer  to  fish.  Their  nets  were  made 
of  hemp  grown  in  their  own  country,  and  they  used  for 
bread  maize  grown  there  also.  It  is  clear  that  these 
people  seemed  poor  because  they  were  far  from  their 
homes  and,  in  fact,  two  of  the  sons  of  their  chief,  Taig- 
noagny  and  Domagaya,  who  acted  as  interpreters  on 
Cartier's  second  voyage,  were  found  to  have  their  homes 
at  Stadacona  (Quebec.)  We  conclude,  therefore,  that 
the  Indians  on  Chaleur  Bay  were  a  tribe  of  Algonquins, 
probably  Micmacs,  and  those  who  were  making  their 
suniiiier  fishery  at  Gaspe  were  of  the  same  race  and 
tongue  as  the  Quebec  and  Hochelaga  Indians.  In  short 
they  were  Ilurons  and  not  Algonquins.  A  comparison 
of  the  few  words  embodied  in  Cartier's  vocabulary  will 
put  this  beyond  doubt. 


DISPUTED   POINTS  i8i 

It  should  be  observed  that,  although  Cartier  carried 
off  these  two  Indians,  it  was  to  prepare  them  to  act  as 
interpreters,  and  that  they  and  their  relatives,  though 
alarmed  at  first,  were  reconciled  and  content  with  his 
promises.  The  two  youths  were  provided  with  good 
clothes  and  their  people  received  presents  and  came  off 
in  numbers  to  take  leave  of  them  and  bring  them  food, 
and  they  promised  that  the  cross  Cartier  had  erected 
should  not  be  interfered  with.  It  is  not  accurate,  there- 
fore, to  say  that  "  he  bore  away  to  France,  carrying 
thither  as  a  sample  of  the  natural  products  of  the  New 
World  two  young  Indians,  lured  into  their  clutches  by 
an  act  of  villainous  treachery." 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe,  with  some,  that  these 
Gaspesians  were  a  separate  race  or  tribe  of  Indians,  or 
in  the  myth  that  they  had  been,  from  old  times,  wor- 
shippers of  the  cross.  Whether  the  stories  of  the  worship 
of  the  cross  by  the  natives  of  Central  America  are 
or  are  not  true  is  irrelevant ;  they  are  certainly  untrue 
here.  The  Porte-Croix  Indians,  as  some  enthusiasts 
have  called  them,  were  Micmacs,  or  Souriquois,  among 
whom  neither  the  Jesuits  nor  Boutrincourt,  Lescarbot  nor 
Champlain  ever  found  a  trace  of  such  devotion.  The 
Porte-Croix  tribe  may  be  classed  among  the  other  myth- 
ical Indians  who  spoke  Basque  or  Irish  or  Welsh, 

The  discoverers  and  early  settlers  of  Canada  came  in 
contact  with  two  races  of  Indians  only — the  Algonquins 
and  the  Huron-Iroquois.  These  were  radically  dis- 
tinct in  language,  as  the  most  cursory  consideration  of 
the  surviving  Indian  names  of  localities  will  show.  In 
the  Maritime  Provinces,  formerly  Acadia,  names  such 
as  Musquodoboit,  Kouchibouguac,  Kennebecasis,  Buc- 
touche,  Chebucto  indicate  that  the  primitive  occupants 
of  these  provinces  were  of  Algonquin  race;  while 
such  names  as  Ottawa,  Toronto,  Hochelaga,  Stada- 
cona,  Caughnawaga,  Cataraqui  testify  to  the  presence 
of  a  people  of  the  Huron-Iroquois  stock,  and  that  their 
ears  and  tongues  were  formed  to  a  different  class  of 
sounds.     It  is  better  to  use  the  compound  word  Huron- 


1 82    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Iroquois,  because  they  were  originally  the  same  people; 
although,  when  the  Europeans  arrived,  a  war  had  com- 
menced which  ended  in  the  practical  extermination  of 
the  Hurons.  The  Algonquins  were  hunters,  and  had  no 
settled  abode.  The  Huron-Iroquois  lived  in  palisaded 
towns,  in  wood  and  bark  houses,  and  supported  them- 
selves chiefly  by  agriculture.  Although  the  cultivation 
of  their  crops  of  maize  and  pumpkins  was  left  to  the 
women,  while  the  men  hunted  or  made  war,  the  Huron- 
Iroquois  were  sedentary  tribes  and  developed  a  political 
system  superior  to  anything  which  existed  among  the 
nomadic  tribes  around  them. 

On  his  second  voyage  Cartier  came  in  contact  solely 
with  Huron-Iroquois  tribes,  for  they  were  the  occupants 
of  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  from  the  sea  to  the 
upper  lakes.  To  the  south  the  tribes  of  New  England  and 
New  York  were  Algonquins,  and  to  the  north  the  scat- 
tered tribes  extending,  inclusively  from  the  Montagnais 
on  the  northeast  to  the  Ojibways  on  the  northwest,  were 
all  Algonquin,  so  that  the  Huron-Iroquois  people  were  en- 
circled by  alien  tribes  inferior  in  organisation  and  skill 
in  politics  and  war.  A  great  revolution  was  impending 
at  the  period  of  the  Cartier  voyages.  Tragedies  of  un- 
known horror  would  be  enacted  before  many  years,  but 
the  St.  Lawrence  valley  seemed  peaceful  then,  though 
there  were  indications  of  gathering  storm  on  the  south 
and  west. 

There  is  much  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  race  of 
the  Indians  who  gave  Cartier  so  warm  a  welcome  at 
Montreal ;  but  of  late  years  it  has  been  generally  con- 
ceded that  they  were  of  Huron-Iroquois  stock,  and  the 
doubt  is,  mainly,  whether  they  were  Hurons  or  Hurons 
and  Iroquois  side  by  side.  The  fact  that  all  Cartier's 
vocabularies  are  Huron  should  put  the  question  beyond 
dispute,  for  there  were  differences  of  dialect  between 
tribes  of  the  same  race,  and  the  Mohawk  (the  oldest 
dialect  of  Iroquois)  is  the  nearest  to  Huron.  That 
being  the  case,  it  follows  from  the  facts  recorded  that 
the  people  of  Stadacona  were  of  the  same  stock,  because 


DISPUTED   POINTS  183 

their  speech  was  the  same,  their  god  Cudragny  was  the 
same,  the  name  of  their  town  Stadacona  was  Huron,  and 
the  manners  and  customs  of  both  people  were  the  same. 
It  also  follows  that  Taignoagny  and  Domagaya,  whom 
Cartier  took  to  France  on  his  first  voyage,  were  Hurons, 
and  the  Indians  who  were  at  Gaspe  Basin  were  Hurons, 
for  the  relatives  of  the  two  interpreters  were  met  by  Car- 
tier  at  Stadacona,  and  that  most  certainly  was  their 
home.  The  first  act  of  a  long  tragedy  had  been  played. 
The  Iroquois  had  been  expelled  from  their  homes  be- 
side the  Hurons  in  the  St.  Lawrence  valley,  and  in  their 
retreats  on  the  south  and  west  were  gathering  strength 
for  their  great  revenge. 

It  is,  moreover,  evident  that  the  town  of  Hochelaga 
was  then  in  some  real  sense  the  chief  place  on  the  river. 
Cartier  says  "  that  notwithstanding  the  Indians  of  that 
town  are  sedentary  and  do  not  move  about,  like  the 
people  of  Canada  and  Saguenay,  these  people  [the  Cana- 
dians] are  subject  to  them,  as  also  are  eight  or  nine 
other  nations  who  live  upon  the  river."  Cartier  had 
heard  of  Hochelaga  from  his  two  interpreters  before  his 
second  voyage,  probably  in  France,  for  on  arrival  he 
claimed  from  them  the  redemption  of  a  promise  to  go 
there  with  him,  and  when  they  tried  to  dissuade  him 
he  said  that  he  had  orders  from  the  King  to  go  there. 
We  find,  then,  the  Hurons  in  possession  of  the  river 
from  Gaspe  to  the  Saults  above  Hochelaga  and  an 
indefinite  distance  beyond. 

The  country  was,  however,  by  no  means  populous. 
In  the  whole  stretch  of  the  river  from  Stadacona  to 
Hochelaga  one  town  only  is  mentioned  by  Cartier — 
Achelay,  at  the  Richelieu  rapids.  Below  Stadacona  he 
mentions  Araste,  Starnatau,  Tailla  (which  he  says  is 
on  a  mountain),  and  Scitadin.  Apparently  not  far  from 
Stadacona  was  the  town  of  Tequenondahi,  also  situated 
on  a  mountain.  These  are  the  only  places  mentioned 
in  the  narrative  as  having  inhabitants,  although  fre- 
quent mention  is  made  of  houses — fishing  huts — both 
above  and  below  Stadacona,  and  in  a  general  way  of 


1 84    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

several  tribes  living  in  open  towns.  These  places  had 
their  own  chiefs,  over  whom  Donnacona  seems  to  have 
had  no  authority,  but  the  people  and  the  chiefs  are  met 
at  Stadacona  as  visitors.  The  people  of  Scitadin  were 
very  friendly,  and  the  chief  of  a  town  Cartier  calls 
Hagonchenda  warned  him  of  the  treachery  of  Donna- 
cona and  the  two  interpreters. 

From  Donnacona  Cartier  heard  of  a  hostile  people 
to  the  south — the  Trudemans.  These  v^^ere  the  Mo- 
hawks who  had  been  expelled  from  the  St.  Lawrence 
valley.  Donnacona  exhibited  five  scalps  taken  from 
them,  and  told  a  story  which  is  corroborated  by  Mohawk 
tradition.  Only  two  years  before  a  party  of  his  people, 
on  their  way  to  Gaspe,  were  encamped  on  an  island 
opposite  the  Saguenay.  The  Trudemans  attacked  them 
at  night,  set  fire  to  their  fort,  and  killed  the  whole  party, 
men,  women,  and  children,  save  five  who  escaped.  This 
incident  confirms  the  presence  of  people  from  Stadacona 
at  Gaspe  Basin,  and  explains  their  apparent  poverty. 
They  were  there  for  their  summer  fishing  only.  The 
island  is  at  the  entrance  of  Bic  harbour  and  is  still 
known  as  Isle  an  Massacre,  and  in  recent  years  a  cave 
strewed  with  human  bones  was  discovered  there.  At 
Hochelaga  Cartier  was  told  of  another  evil  nation 
called  Agouionda,  dwelling  up  the  river  and  waging  con- 
tinual war  among  themselves,  and  who  wore  defensive 
armour  made  of  strips  of  wood  laced  with  cord. 
These  were  other  tribes  of  Iroquois  in  league  with  the 
IVIohawks  and  constantly  at  war  with  the  Hurons  and 
Algonquins. 

Much  interest  has  been  taken,  not  only  in  Canada,  but 
in  the  United  States,  in  the  tree  called  in  the  "  Bref 
Recit  "  ameda,  in  the  Paris  MSS.  amedda,  and  by  Lescar- 
bot  annedda,  whose  healing  power  saved  Cartier's  whole 
party  from  death  by  scurvy.  Justin  Winsor  and  J.  G. 
Shea  attribute  the  cure  to  the  bark  of  the  white  pine. 
Parkman  thinks  the  wonderful  tree  was  a  spruce,  or  more 
probably  an  arbor  vitaj.  The  Abbes  Ferland  and  Fail- 
Ion  suppose  it  to  have  been  the  white  spruce,  and  that  is 


DISPUTED   POINTS  185 

apparently  the  opinion  of  Charlevoix;  but  he  identifies 
the  tree  he  means.  He  was  a  skilled  botanist,  but  botan- 
ical nomenclature,  especially  that  of  the  large  and  com- 
plicated family  of  pines  and  spruces,  was  then  not  settled, 
and  the  white  spruce,  abies  alba  of  our  books,  was  not  the 
tree  he  meant.  It  was,  as  he  says,  the  tree  from  which 
Canada  balsam  and  oil  of  terebinthine  is  derived.  This 
tree  is  found  in  our  books  as  abies  balsamea,  or  balsam  fir 
(Gray).  It  is  sometimes  called  the  balm  of  Gilead,  and 
sometimes  the  American  silver  fir,  and  will  readily  be 
found  in  the  pharmacopoeias.  The  oil  of  terebinthine 
is  the  active  healing  constituent  of  the  balsam.  It  is 
a  volatile  oil,  and  possesses  strong  antiseptic  proper- 
ties, besides  being  a  stimulant.  It  has  not  lost  its  heal- 
ing virtues,  although  other  anti-scorbutics  may  have 
displaced  it.  All  the  spruces  yield  an  extract  of  value 
in  medicine ;  but  in  old  colony  days,  and  still  in  the  old- 
fashioned  towns  on  the  seaboard,  spruce  beer  is  made  in 
the  spring  with  an  extract  from  the  young  branches  of 
the  black  spruce,  abies  nigra,  and  this  used  to  be  taken 
to  sea  as  an  anti-scorbutic  by  the  sailors  of  the  American 
colonies.  It  is  a  pleasant  and  healthful  drink  at  any 
time. 

Another  unfailing  subject  of  interest  in  Canada  pre- 
sents a  problem  absolutely  insoluble,  fortunately  not  an 
important  one.  In  the  narrative  of  the  first  voyage  three 
expressions,  "  after  hearing  mass,"  "  we  caused  mass 
to  be  sung,"  and  "  after  having  heard  mass,"  lead  the 
reader  to  suppose  a  priest  was  with  the  expedition, 
although  one  would  expect  to  have  seen  him  come  for- 
ward on  such  an  occasion  as  the  elevation  of  the  cross 
at  Gaspe.  On  the  second  voyage  a  list  of  the  crew, 
almost  complete,  has  been  preserved,  and  among  them  are 
Dom  Guilliaume  Le  Breton  and  Dom  Anthoine.  No 
other  mention  is  made  of  these  two  men,  and  the  most 
diligent  research  has  discovered  no  single  fact  concern- 
ing them.  Ordinarily  their  clerical  status  would  not  be 
doubted,  for  even  in  old  English  writers  the  word 
"  Dom,"  for  "  Dominus,"  was    recognised    as    an    aca- 


1 86    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

demical  title,  and  translated  by  "  Sir  " ;  so  a  curate  or 
parson  was  called  Sir,  as  we  find  in  Shakespeare, — "  Sir 
Hugh  Evans,  a  Welsh  parson,"  and  "  Sir  Oliver  Mar- 
text,  a  vicar."  It  was  likewise  the  custom  in  Bretagne 
to  use  the  word  "  Dom  "  for  an  unbeneficed  priest  or 
chaplain,  quite  independently  of  its  application  to  cer- 
tain religious  orders.  Naturally  one  expects  to  hear  of 
these  persons,  if  they  were  clergymen,  for  in  certain 
junctures  of  the  second  voyage  their  offices  were  needed, 
if  ever  the  ministrations  of  the  Church  were  needed ;  but 
they  never  appear  exercising  their  functions  of  baptising, 
comforting,  exhorting,  or  burying.  On  one  occasion, 
at  Isle  aux  Coudres,  the  vessels  are  said  to  sail  "  after 
hearing  mass,"  but  at  Hochelaga,  Cartier  himself  read 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John  and  the  Story  of  the  Passion  out 
of  his  Book  of  Hours.  He  stroked  the  limbs  of  the 
paralytic  chief  and  prayed  for  the  conversion  of  the 
savages.  He  may  have  left  the  priests  behind  on  that 
occasion,  but  a  little  later  on,  at  Stadacona,  we  find  him 
explaining  the  Christian  faith  to  the  Indians  with  some 
apparent  result,  for  a  number  of  the  people,  and  among 
them  Donnacona  and  the  two  interpreters,  asked  several 
times  for  baptism,  but  he  refused,  as  he  says,  "  because 
he  did  not  know  their  minds  and  their  resolution,  and 
there  was  no  one  then  who  could  teach  them  the  faith." 
He  told  Taignoagny  and  Domagaya  (the  interpreters) 
to  say  that  he  would  return  on  another  voyage  "  and 
would  bring  priests  and  chrism  and  that  he  could  not 
baptise  without  chrism."  No  priest  could  have  been 
there  when  he  said  that,  for  the  excuse  was  not  valid. 
Afterwards,  when  the  scurvy  was  at  its  height,  and  he 
had  an  image  of  the  Virgin  Mary  erected,  "  he  ordered 
that  mass  should  be  said  there  the  following  Sunday," 
and  "  mass  was  said  and  celebrated  before  the  said 
image."  These  two  passages  cannot  be  taken  in  their 
obvious  meaning  and  be  consistent  with  the  other  state- 
ments, for  mass  in  any  proper  sense  cannot  be  celebrated 
without  a  priest.  While  the  clergymen  in  Canada  who 
have  treated  the  subject  are  for  the  most  part  certain 


DISPUTED   POINTS  187 

that  priests  were  present,  other  writers  of  authority  are 
certain  of  the  contrary,  and  others  are  content  to  remain 
in  doubt.  This  last  is  in  fact  the  most  philosophical 
course,  because  the  narrative  is  self-contradictory,  and 
everyone  must  decide  according  to  his  own  sense  of 
the  probabilities.  Hakluyt,  who  was  a  Protestant 
clergyman  and  -well  knew  the  meaning  of  the  word 
"  mass,"  translates  it  "  service,"  recognising  the  difficulty, 
and  knowing  the  usage  on  English  ships  in  his  xJay — 
as  in  ours,  where  the  captain  leads  service  in  the  absence 
of  a  clergyman.  One  thing  only  is  certain,  that  if  there 
were  clergymen  on  the  expedition  they  were  of  a  milder 
and  more  self-effacing  type  than  any  met  with  elsewhere 
in  the  history  of  the  continent  of  America.  Cartier 
could  not  talk  Huron  any  better  than  the  other  French- 
men. All  communication  was  through  interpreters,  and 
if  there  were  priests  with  him  one  expects  to  read  that 
he  was  told  to  attend  to  his  ships  and  leave  theology 
alone. 

It  might  have  been  supposed  that  the  origin  and  mean- 
ing of  the  word  "  Canada  "  would  have  rested  undis- 
turbed where  Cartier  placed  it.  At  the  end  of  his 
account  of  the  second  voyage  is  a  vocabulary  of  the 
language  of  the  country  and  kingdoms  of  "  Hochelaga 
and  Canada,"  where  it  is  expressly  stated  that  the  natives 
"  call  a  town  Canada."  Stadacona  was  only  the  specific 
name  of  the  town  he  found,  and  this  is  abundantly  evi- 
dent in  the  narrative,  as,  in  one  instance  out  of  many, 
where  Donnacona  asks  Cartier  to  go  the  following  day 
to  see  Canada — that  is,  Stadacona — just  as  one  man 
might  ask  another  to  come  to  town.  Nevertheless,  some 
suppose  that,  at  some  unspecified  time — any  time  will  do 
so  long  as  it  is  prior  to  Cartier — the  Portuguese  went 
up  the  river,  and,  in  their  disappointment  at  finding  it 
a  river,  said  Cd  nada  (nothing  here).  The  natives,  by 
theory,  caught  up  that  phrase  and  repeated  it  to  Cartier, 
as  the  only  Portuguese  they  knew.  Still  another  Portu- 
guese theory  is  that  Canada  is  an  old  Portuguese  word, 
still  in  use  in  the  Atlantic  islands,  meaning  a  strait,  and 


1 88    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

that  the  pre-Cartier  discoverers,  when  they  arrived  at 
Quebec,  thought  the  river  was  a  channel  by  which  they 
might  pass  to  the  East  Indies.  Charlevoix  reports 
another  theory — that  the  pre-Cartier  sailors  were  Span- 
iards who,  finding  no  gold  mines,  exclaimed  Aca  nada 
(nothing  here).  Thevet,  Belief orest,  and  Lescarbot 
have  each  a  theory ;  but  the  most  far-fetched  is  the  deri- 
vation from  the  Sanscrit  "  Kanada — one  who  eats  Ht- 
tle."  All  "this  learned  labour,  and  there  is  a  good  deal 
more  of  it,  might  have  been  saved  by  permitting  the 
Huron-Iroquois  to  know  their  own  language.  We  have 
Cartier's  testimony  that  Canada  signified  in  Donna- 
cona's  mouth  a  town,  and  the  missionaries  in  after  years 
— many  of  whom,  like  the  late  Father  Cuoq,  spent  their 
lives  preaching  and  teaching  in  the  Indian  languages  of 
Canada, — testify  that  Kanata,  which  Charlevoix  says  was 
pronounced  Canada,  signified,  in  Iroquois,  town,  village, 
or  collection  of  huts ;  and  from  Quebec  it  was  extended 
over  the  whole  country. 

Like  many  other  points  of  Cartier's  voyages,  the  place 
where  he  laid  up  his  ships  for  the  winter  has  been  dis- 
puted. Twenty-nine  miles  up  the  river  from  Quebec  is 
a  place  called  Ste.  Croix,  and  on  the  north  shore  oppo- 
site is  a  river  now  bearing  the  name  Jacques  Cartier. 
Some  writers  have  supposed  that  to  be  the  site  of  Car- 
tier's  winter  quarters.  Lescarbot  led  the  way  into  the 
error;  but,  as  he  was  never  in  Canada  proper,  he  is  not 
to  be  credited  when  in  Canadian  questions  he  contra- 
dicts Champlain.  Wherever  the  Ste.  Croix  was,  Cartier 
most  clearly  asserts  that  he  left  two  of  his  ships  there, 
and  then  went  twenty-five  leagues  up  the  river  in  the 
galleon  and  two  boats  to  a  place  he  calls  Achelay,  where 
the  river  was  swift,  full  of  rocks,  and  dangerous.  Les- 
carbot betrays  his  ignorance  of  the  localities  in  the  note 
Nc.  74  to  his  map,  for  he  there  says  that  Champlain's 
Quebec  is  Cartier's  Achelay,  while  he  identifies  the 
former  place  by  the  narrows  and  the  high  (Mont- 
morenci)  fall  close  to  it.  This  is  to  confuse  Quebec 
with  the  Richelieu  rapids  and  to  ignore  Cartier's  plain 


DISPUTED   POINTS  189 

statement  that  when  he  was  at  Achelay  his  two  largest 
ships  were  safe  in  winter  quarters  in  the  Ste.  Croix, 
twenty-five  leagues  down  the  river.  Pere  Le  Tac  fol- 
lows Lescarbot,  and  tries  to  reconcile  the  difference  by 
introducing  a  new  error  in  supposing  that  Cartier  win- 
tered at  the  St.  Charles  only  on  his  third  voyage,  instead 
of  at  Cap  Rouge ;  and  again  in  stating  that  the  river 
narrows  across  from  Ste.  Croix  to  the  Jacques  Cartier 
River.  Even  across  from  Pointe  Platon  it  is  not  nearly 
so  narrow  as  at  Quebec.  The  channel  is  narrow  be- 
cause of  obstructions,  but  the  river  there  is  wide.  Pere 
Le  Tac  says,  moreover,  that  the  Recollet  convent  was  on 
the  far  side  of  the  St.  Charles,  close  to  the  little  river  de 
la  Raye  (Lairet),  at  a  place  commonly  called  "Jacques 
Cartier's  Fort,"  just  in  fact  where  the  monument  has 
been  erected.  The  site  of  the  convent  is  clearly  iden- 
tified by  Pere  Sagard.  Charlevoix  has  varied  the  error 
by  confusing  the  Ste.  Croix  and  Jacques  Cartier;  the 
Ste.  Croix  opposite  the  Jacques  Cartier  was  not  a  river, 
but  a  point  of  land. 

The  question  should  be  set  at  rest  by  the  testimony  of 
Champlain  and  his  conclusive  reasoning.  He  says  of 
the  St.  Charles : 

"  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  this  river,  which  is  north- 
north-west  from  our  settlement,  is  the  place  where 
Jacques  Cartier  wintered,  since  there  are  still,  a  league 
up  the  river,  remains  of  what  seems  to  have  been  a  chim- 
ney, the  foundation  of  which  has  been  found,  and  indi- 
cations of  there  having  been  ditches  surrounding  their 
dwellings,  which  were  small.  We  found  also  large 
pieces  of  hewn  worm-eaten  timber,  and  some  three  or 
four  cannon  balls.  All  these  things  show  clearly  that 
there  was  a  settlement  there,  founded  by  Christians ; 
and  what  leads  me  to  say  and  believe  that  it  was  that  of 
Jacques  Cartier  is  the  fact  that  there  is  no  evidence 
whatever  that  anyone  wintered  and  built  a  house  in 
these  places  except  Jacques  Cartier,  at  the  time  of  his 
discoveries.  This  place,  as  I  think,  must  have  been 
called  Ste.  Croix,  as  he  named  it,  which  name  has  since 


190    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

been  transferred  to  another  place  fifteen  leagues  west  of 
our  settlement.  But  there  is  no  evidence  of  his  having 
wintered  in  the  place  now  called  Ste.  Croix,  nor  in  any 
other  there,  since  in  this  direction  there  is  no  river  or  any 
other  place  large  enough  for  vessels,  except  the  main 
river  or  that  of  which  I  spoke  above." 

He  then  goes  on  to  demonstrate  that  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to  lay  up  vessels  for  the  winter  in  a  place  such  as 
Ste.  Croix,  exposed  to  strong  currents  and  ice,  and  that 
the  place  so  claimed  for  Cartier's  winter  quarters  was 
then  called  Achelacy,  where  the  river  is  swift  and  dan- 
gerous, and  can  only  be  passed  at  flood  tide.  He  points 
out  that  there  are  no  narrows  on  the  river  excepting 
those  near  Quebec,  and  adds  that  he  was  astonished, 
when  he  was  told  that  Cartier  wintered  at  Pointe  Ste. 
Croix,  to  find  there  no  trace  of  a  river  for  vessels.  That 
led  him  to  make  a  careful  examination  of  the  question, 
which  no  one  had  previously  done.  The  astonishment 
of  Champlain  will  be  shared  by  anyone  familiar  with  the 
narrative  and  the  localities. 

Another  theory  has  been  stated — that  Cartier  lost  a 
vessel  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  near  the  Jacques  Cartier 
River;  but  there  is  no  record  of  any  such  loss  having 
occurred.  According  to  J.  G.  Shea  this  report  originated 
with  La  Potherie.  Cartier's  vessels  are  all  accounted 
for.  Cartier  did,  indeed,  abandon  to  the  Indians  one  of 
his  vessels,  the  Petite  Hermine,  which  he  could  not  man 
for  the  return  voyage  in  consequence  of  the  ravages  of 
the  scurvy.  He  presented  the  dismantled  hull  for  the 
sake  of  the  bolts  and  nails  to  some  Indians  who  had 
been  very  friendly  to  him.  In  1843  the  remains  of  a 
vessel  were  found  a  little  higher  up  the  St.  Charles,  at 
the  junction  of  the  rivulet  St.  Michel.  These  remains 
were  assumed  to  be  the  hull  of  the  Petite  Hermine,  and 
were  presented  to  the  town  of  St.  Malo,  where  they  are 
preserved  as  relics  of  Cartier's  vessel,  and  are  supposed 
to  identify  the  site  of  Cartier's  fort.  But  it  was  not 
shown  that  the  iron  had  been  removed ;  in  fact,  the  spikes 
and  bolts   were   still  in  good  preservation.     Moreover, 


DISPUTED   POINTS  191 

the  site  at  the  junction  of  the  Lairet  is  identified  by 
the  location  of  the  Recollets'  and  Jesuits'  houses,  as 
recorded  in  the  annals  of  those  orders,  and  after  much 
controversy  it  has  been  accepted  by  the  people  of  Quebec 
and  marked  by  the  monument  they  have  erected. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

cartier's  third  voyage;  roberval,  1541-43 

FRANCE  was  aga.m  in  confusion  when  Cartier 
arrived  home  in  the  summer  of  1536.  The 
sudden  death  (attributed  to  poison)  of  the  Dau- 
phin and  the  impending  invasion  of  Provence  by 
the  Emperor  Charles  V.  absorbed  the  attention  of  the 
King  and  his  court,  and  effectually  threw  Cartier  and  his 
ten  abducted  Indian  notables  into  the  shade.  We  may 
well  imagine  that  in  the  midst  of  private  calamity  and 
public  danger  Francis  had  neither  time  nor  inclination  to 
listen  to  Donnacona's  marvellous  stories  about  Saguenay, 
or  about  men  with  one  leg,  and  suchlike  prodigies.  Car- 
tier  was,  therefore,  unable  to  keep  his  promise  to  the 
Indians  of  Canada.  He  could  not  return  in  a  year,  nor 
in  several  years ;  but  the  poor  savage  exiles  in  France 
were  in  the  meantime  well  treated  and  cared  for  bodily 
and  spiritually.  They  were  instructed  in  the  Christian 
religion  and  baptised.  Thevet  reports  that  he  had  often 
talked  with  Donnacona,  and  that  the  chief  had  become  a 
good  Christian.  That  was  possibly  the  case ;  but  Thevet 
was  as  great  a  romancer  as  Donnacona,  and  had  more 
opportunities  to  display  his  natural  gifts,  so  he  must  not 
be  taken  too  seriously.  Cartier  did,  however,  make  a 
report  to  the  King,  both  verbally  and  in  writing,  and  the 
savages  were  presented  at  court  and  the  King  talked 
with  them ;  but  time  passed  in  delays,  and  the  poor  wild 
people  all  died,  excepting  the  one  little  girl  from  Pointe 
au  Platon,  whom  the  chief  of  Achelay  had  given  to  Car- 
tier  on  his  way  down  from  Hochelaga.  One  would 
gladly  know  more  of  the  fate  of  this  little  savage  lady 
from  Lotbiniere,  for  she  was  the  daughter  of  a  chief  (un 
grand  seigneur),  but  the  records  are  silent,  and  she,  no 

192 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     193 

doubt,  died  like  Pocahontas,  a  victim  to  the  diseases  of 
civiHsed  life. 

In  1538  a  truce  for  ten  years  was  signed.  It  did  not 
last  long,  but  the  turmoil  of  war  quieted  down  for  a 
while,  and  in  the  following  year  Francis,  with  a  gen- 
erosity wasted  upon  Charles  V.,  permitted  the  Emperor 
to  pass  from  Spain  through  France  in  order  to  reach 
more  quickly  his  turbulent  provinces  in  the  north.  At 
last,  in  1540,  Francis  resumed  his  Canadian  plans;  and 
on  October  17,  1540,  his  commission  to  Cartier  for  a 
new  voyage  was  issued.  This  document  is  worthy  of 
close  attention,  for  it  places  beyond  doubt  Cartier's  claim 
to  be  the  "  discoverer  of  the  countries  of  Canada  and 
Hochelaga,"  without  the  least  deduction  for  Spaniards, 
Portuguese,  or  Basques.  It  sets  forth  the  intention  of 
pressing  the  discovery  of  the  country  of  Saguenay. 
This  region  was,  as  has  been  observed,  not  the  region  of 
the  Saguenay  River,  but  the  upper  regions  from  whence 
the  great  river  came  which  Cartier  saw  from  the  top  of 
Mount  Royal — the  region  where  copper  was  found,  and 
where  there  was  a  real  fresh  water  sea  of  which  no  man 
had  seen  the  end.  These  lands,  the  commission  sets 
forth,  are  "  a  portion  of  Asia  on  its  western  side,"  and 
the  object  of  the  expedition  was,  not  only  to  discover 
them,  but,  if  need  be,  to  settle  there.  Cartier  was  com- 
missioned in  the  amplest  manner  as  captain-general  and 
master  pilot,  with  corresponding  honours  and  privileges, 
and  all  upon  the  expedition  were  to  be  obedient  to  him. 
This  commission  was  sent  by  the  Dauphin,  as  Duke,  to 
the  estates  of  Bretagne  on  October  20 ;  and  on  Decem- 
ber 12,  1540,  the  King  sent  a  mandement  to  the  Seneschal 
of  Rennes,  ordering  him  to  prevent  the  people  of  the 
seaport  towns  of  Bretagne  from  obstructing  Cartier  in 
collecting  his  crew. 

Suddenly  there  came  a  change  in  the  councils  of  the 
King;  and  this,  as  pointed  out  by  the  late  Abbe  Verreau 
(one  of  the  most  painstaking  and  learned  scholars  of 
Canada),  could  only  have  been  caused  by  the  disgrace 
of    Cartier's    patron,    the    Admiral    Chabot    de    Brion. 


194    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Never  was  disgrace  more  unmerited,  but  it  reacted  upon 
Cartier;  and  on  January  15,  1541,  the  King  issued  a  com- 
mission of  Jean  Frangois  de  La  Roque,  Sieur  de  Rober- 
val,  giving  him  the  chief  command.  This  change  of 
counsel  has  been  obscured  by  many  writers  from  want 
of  attention  to  the  fact  that  at  that  time  in  France  the 
year  commenced  at  Easter,  and  therefore  while  Car- 
tier's  commission  is  really  October  17,  1540,  Roberval's 
is  subsequent,  and  its  true  date  in  our  reckoning  of  time 
is  January  15,  1541,  although  the  date  it  bore  in  the 
French  calendar  was  1540.  The  commission  will  be 
found  at  length  in  Harrisse's  "  Notes  sur  la  Nouvelle 
France." 

Roberval's  commission  was  wider  than  that  to  Cartier. 
It  created  him  lieutenant-general,  and  chief  leader  and 
captain  of  the  expedition,  over  each  and  every  ship,  and 
over  all  persons,  sailors  as  well  as  soldiers ;  with  power 
to  appoint,  remove,  or  change  captains  and  pilots  from 
ship  to  ship,  and  to  replace  them  at  his  pleasure.  He 
had  the  power  to  appoint  lieutenants  and  to  invest  them 
with  authority  as  he  saw  fit.  He  was  authorised  to 
enter  upon  these  distant  lands,  peaceably  or  by  force,  and 
to  build  forts  and  castles,  and  to  grant  lands  in  fiefs  and 
seigniories  to  worthy  followers ;  but  without  touching 
territories  occupied  by  the  Emperor  or  the  King  of  Por- 
tugal. All  these,  and  such  like  powers,  were  granted  in 
the  most  absolute  and  unreserved  way ;  but  what  is  chiefly 
important  is  that  Cartier's  commission  was  revoked,  for 
the  document  plainly  stated  "  that  if  we  have  previously 
granted  any  letters  or  power  to  any  person  contrary  tq 
the  tenor  of  these  letters  we  from  the  present  time  have 
revoked,  and  do  revoke,  cancel,  and  annul  them,  except- 
ing so  far  and  so  long  as  our  said  lieutenant  may  allow 
and  permit." 

Here,  then,  was  created  a  totally  new  condition  of 
things.  The  experienced  and  successful  sailor  who  had 
conducted  two  expeditions  with  success  was  rudely  de- 
posed and  put  under  the  command  of  a  courtier,  a  lands- 
man, a  soldier,  a  person  of  no  experience,  nor  even  of 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     195 

especial  note  in  the  history  of  the  time.  In  all  this  long 
document  Cartier  is  not  mentioned,  nor  are  his  discov- 
eries recognised.  Cartier  had  been  given  power  to 
select  fifty  criminals  from  the  gaols,  such  as  might  seem 
to  him  suitable  for  the  expedition ;  but  to  Roberval  all 
the  prisons  of  France  were  thrown  open.  It  was  the 
scheme  of  a  foolish  courtier,  and  success  was  impossible. 
Cartier  was  already  involved  in  preparations,  and  could 
not  retreat.  The  plain  mariner  of  St.  Malo  had  no 
friends  at  court  powerful  enough  to  protest  against  this 
injustice.  He  did  not  expect  any  good  result  from  an 
expedition  so  organised,  and,  before  leaving  France, 
made  his  will. 

The  expedition  was  to  consist  of  five  ships.  The 
King  advanced  30,000  livres  to  Cartier,  and  15,000  to 
Roberval.  Early  in  May  Cartier  had  the  five  ships 
ready,  the  Grande  Hermine  and  Emcrillon  among  them, 
and  they  had  dropped  down  to  the  outer  harbour  of  St. 
Malo  victualled  for  two  years,  waiting  only  for  the 
arrival  of  Roberval.  The  King's  command  was  urgent, 
for  he  had  written  to  Cartier  charging  him  to  sail  imme- 
diately after  receipt  of  his  letter,  upon  pain  of  incurring 
the  royal  displeasure  and  of  being  held  responsible  for 
all  the  delay.  When  Roberval  came  down  he  found 
that  the  powder  and  artillery  and  provisions  he  had 
ordered  in  Champagne  and  Normandy  had  not  arrived. 
His  convicts  also  were  only  beginning  to  arrive,  in 
chained  gangs,  and  it  was  decided  that  Cartier  should 
sail  with  his  five  ships  and  Roberval  should  follow  forth- 
with with  two  others,  bringing  the  belated  supplies  and 
the  rest  of  the  expedition.  A  few  days  before  Cartier 
sailed  Roberval  left  St.  Malo  for  Honfleur  with  all  his 
people.  The  haughty  and  inexperienced  lieutenant  of 
the  King  having  departed,  difficulties  ceased,  and  Cartier 
sailed  on  May  20,  1541,  but  as  representing  Roberval,  not 
the  King  of  France. 

While  the  two  previous  expeditions  had  attracted  no 
attention  outside  of  a  small  circle  in  France,  and  were,  as 
the  maps  show,  unknown  in  the  rest  of  Europe,  the  fuss 


196    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

and  stir  made  in  getting  up  this  expedition  excited  the 
jealousy  of  Charles  V..  and  the  Council  of  the  Indies  sent 
spies  to  France  to  watch  and  report  on  all  that  was  done. 
It  was  admitted  that  the  Bacallaos  was  outside  the  demar- 
cation of  Spain ;  but  according  to  the  Treaty  of  Tor- 
desillas  it  was  within  the  line  of  Portuguese  authority, 
and  pressure  was  put  upon  the  King  of  Portugal  to 
induce  him  to  despatch  an  armed  force  to  crush  this 
attempt  of  the  French  to  interfere  with  the  ownership 
of  the  New  World.  The  King  of  Portugal  would  not 
move,  and  the  Council  of  the  Indies  apprehended  no  evil 
results.  They  seem  to  have  had  a  fairly  clear  idea  of  the 
American  coast.  The  Cardinal  of  Seville  expressed  it 
plainly :  "  The  motives  of  the  French  are  that  they  sup- 
pose these  lands  are  rich  in  gold  and  silver.  In  my 
opinion  they  are  wrong,  because  the  whole  coast  as  far 
as  Florida  contains  no  other  wealth  than  that  dependent 
on  the  fisheries."  Both  w'ere  sure  the  French  would  fail, 
but  it  is  believed  by  some  excellent  writers  that  the 
Emperor  did  send  Ares  de  Sea,  one  of  his  chief  captains, 
to  Terreneuve  to  see  what  Cartier  was  doing,  if  he 
sailed  on  that  errand  in  July,  1541,  Cartier  was  safe  up 
the  river  before  he  could  have  arrived. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  indefatigable  Richard  Hakluyt 
for  all  w'e  know  about  the  actual  occurrences  upon  this 
voyage,  and  that  of  Roberval  the  following  year.  Neither 
Lescarbot,  nor  Ramusio,  nor  Champlain  appears  to  have 
known  of  them.  The  untiring  research  of  Rame,  Joiion 
des  Longrais.  Harrisse,  and  a  few  others  has  unearthed 
a  number  of  documents  from  which  much  may  be  gath- 
ered concerning  transactions  in  France ;  but  it  is  to  the 
enthusiastic  efforts  of  the  Anglican  parson  that  we  are 
indebted  for  information  as  to  the  voyages  themselves. 
This  has  not  been  as  cordially  recognised  as  it  ought 
to  have  been.  The  voyage  was  tedious.  Roberval's 
delays  had  postponed  the  time  of  sailing  until  May  23, 
after  the  easterly  winds  were  over;  and,  what  with  the 
delays  caused  by  bad  weather  and  fighting  against  the 
westerly  winds,  and  the  delays  taking  in  wood  and  water 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     197 

and  waiting  at  Newfoundland  for  the  arrival  of  Rober- 
val,  which  they  expected  from  day  to  day,  it  was  August 
2;^  before  the  five  ships,  reunited  after  having  been 
separated  by  storms,  reached  Stadacona.  No  sooner 
had  they  arrived  than  the  Indians  pressed  on  board  to 
inquire  after  their  countrymen.  They  were  told  that 
Donnacona  was  dead,  and  the  others  had  become  great 
lords  in  France,  and  were  married,  and  did  not  wish  to 
return.  The  Indians  concealed  their  real  feelings  and 
manifested  great  joy  at  seeing  the  Frenchmen  again, 
but  Cartier  now  felt  the  recoil  of  his  error  in  abducting 
their  chief  men ;  for,  he  adds,  "  it  was  all  dissimulation, 
as  afterwards  appeared."  He  decided  that  the  former 
harbour  was  not  sufficiently  secure  from  attack,  and  he 
selected  a  spot  now  known  as  Cap  Rouge,  also  on  the 
north  shore,  four  leagues  above  the  other,  where  a  small 
stream  falls  into  the  main  St.  Lawrence.  There  he 
landed  his  stores,  and  in  the  little  river  he  put  up  three 
of  his  ships.  The  other  two  anchored  in  mid-stream, 
and  on  September  2  they  sailed  for  St.  Malo,  one  under 
the  charge  of  his  brother-in-law.  Mace  Jalobert,  and  the 
other  under  charge  of  his  nephew,  Stephen  Noel, — both 
skilful  pilots, — with  letters  to  the  King,  informing  him  of 
the  non-arrival  of  Roberval,  and  their  fears  for  his 
safety.  The  ships  arrived  in  France  a  few  days  pre- 
vious to  October  19. 

The  little  river  chosen  for  a  harbour  was  not  more 
than  fifty  paces  wide,  and  while  at  low  water  there  was 
nothing  but  a  channel  a  foot  deep,  there  were  three 
fathoms  at  high  tide.  The  country  around  was  very 
beautiful,  as  it  still  is,  and  the  trees — oaks,  maples, 
beeches,  and  others — were  finer  than  in  France.  Among 
them,  to  his  great  content,  Cartier  recognised  the  ameda, 
and  he  gratefully  says  "  that  it  hath  the  most  excellent 
virtue  of  all  the  trees  in  the  world."  What  it  did  for 
him  on  this  occasion  he  promises  to  narrate.  At  the 
mouth  of  the  little  stream  is  a  steep  cliff.  He  built  a  fort 
on  the  top  of  it,  to  protect  a  lower  fort  at  the  level  of  the 
water.     He  found  there  some  things  which,  unlike  the 


198    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

fine  trees  and  beautiful  landscape,  have  since  disappeared 
— an  iron  mine  and  leaves  of  fine  gold.  Near  by  there 
was  "  slate,  stone  with  mineral  veins  looking  like  gold  and 
silver,  and  stones  like  diamonds,  the  most  fair-polished 
and  excellent  cut  that  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  see. 
When  the  sun  shineth  upon  them  they  glisten  as  it  were 
sparkles  of  fire."  From  the  crystals  of  quartz  supposed 
by  Cartier  to  be  diamonds  the  cape  on  which  Quebec 
now  stands  still  retains  the  name  Cape  Diamond. 

While  the  main  body  of  the  sailors  was  engaged  in 
erecting  the  forts  and  landing  the  stores,  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Viscount  de  Beaupre,  Cartier  started 
up  the  river  with  two  boats  to  revisit  Hochelaga.  His 
main  object,  however,  was  to  examine  what  he  called  the 
three  Saults  (the  Lachine  rapids).  These  he  had  par- 
tially seen  from  Mount  Royal  on  his  previous  visit,  and 
he  gathered  from  the  Indians  that  they  were  the  only 
obstacle  to  navigation  on  the  route  to  the  country  of 
Saguenay — the  country  whose  wealth  loomed  so  large 
in  the  imagination  of  the  French,  from  Donnacona's 
mystifying  romancing.  His  intention  was  to  get  ready 
during  the  winter  and  to  push  westwards  in  the  early 
spring.  He  could  not,  however,  think  of  passing  Ache- 
lay  without  calling  on  the  chief  who  had  given  him  the 
little  girl,  still  living  in  France,  and  who  had  so  often 
put  him  on  his  guard  against  the  schemes  of  Taig- 
noagny  and  Domagaya.  He  was  received  with  much 
gladness,  in  appearance,  and  he  bestowed  gifts  of  more 
than  usual  importance  upon  the  "  lord  "  of  the  land,  and 
such  was  his  confidence  in  the  said  "  lord  "  that  he  left 
two  young  boys  there  to  learn  the  language.  But  the 
glamour  of  the  former  voyage  had  worn  off,  and  the 
poor  savages,  though  they  dissembled  their  distrust, 
remembered  their  abducted  leaders.  As  soon  as  Cartier 
passed  up,  the  potentate  of  Pointe  au  Platon  went  down 
to  Stadacona  to  concert  with  his  fellow  tribesmen  hos- 
tile schemes  against  the  people  who  had  carried  away 
their  friends  to  an  unknown  fate. 

On  September  11  Cartier  arrived  at  the  place  where. 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     199 

six  years  before,  was  the  town  of  Hochelaga.  Perhaps 
it  was  there  still,  only  he  does  not  make  the  least  allusion 
to  it;  but  he  speaks  of  a  town  of  Tutonagay,  or  rather 
Hakluyt  so  reports  the  name,  and  we  have  no  other  au- 
thority by  which  to  check  him.  On  the  Desceliers  map  C, 
however,  Ochelaga  has  become  a  district,  and  Tutona- 
gay occupies  the  position  at  the  junction  of  the  two 
rivers  where  the  Hochelaga  of  the  second  voyage  stood. 
This  is  a  real  difficulty  not  to  be  cleared  up  until  a 
"  relation  originale  "  of  this  voyage  also  turns  up  in  some 
neglected  corner.  From  Hakluyt's  narrative  we  learn 
that  the  two  boats  were  moored  at  the  foot  of  the  cur- 
rent St.  Mary,  and  that  Cartier  double-manned  one  of 
them  and  rowed  past  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Montreal.  When  he  arrived  at  the  foot  of  what  are 
now  known  as  the  Lachine  Rapids  he  could  go  no  fur- 
ther; for,  not  only  was  the  current  too  swift,  but  there 
were  great  rocks  and  "  bad  ground,"  as  there  are  still  in 
the  same  place.  He  therefore  landed  and  found  close  by 
the  waterside  a  beaten  track,  now  replaced  by  the 
"  lower  Lachine  road,"  which  he  followed  for  some  dis- 
tance, and  on  the  road  he  found  another  town  of 
friendly  people,  who  gave  him  a  warm  welcome  and  by 
means  of  short  sticks  showed  that  there  was  one  more 
sault  not  much  further  up.  We  may  gather  from  the 
record  that  Cartier  did  not  go  as  far  as  the  quiet  water  of 
Lake  St.  Louis,  probably  not  further  than  the  sharp  turn 
of  the  river,  but  accepted  the  statement  of  the  Indians 
that  the  river  was  not  navigable  to  Saguenay.  The  total 
distance,  as  Cartier  estimated,  from  the  foot  of  the  cur- 
rent St.  Mary  to  the  head  of  the  last  of  the  three  saults 
was  six  leagues,  or  fifteen  miles  by  land.  The  day  was 
far  spent,  and  his  people  had  neither  eaten  nor  drunk,  so 
they  were  glad  to  get  back  to  their  boats.  The  natives 
seemed  friendly  and  manifested  signs  of  joy  and  wel- 
come. Cartier  made  them  presents,  but  he  felt  that  the 
former  confidence  and  good-will  were  gone,  and,  he 
adds,  "  a  man  must  not  trust  them  for  all  their  fair  cere- 
monies and  signs  of  joy,  for  if  they  had  thought  they  had 


200    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

been  too  strong  for  us,  then  would  they  have  done  their 
best  to  have  killed  us,  as  we  understood  afterwards." 
So  Cartier  did  not  delay,  but  having  ascertained  that  the 
country  of  Saguenay  could  not  be  reached  by  boat  he 
dropped  down  the  river  to  his  fort  near  Stadacona,  which 
he  had  named  Charlesbourg  Royal.  There  he  found 
that  the  savages  seemed  unfriendly  and  kept  away  from 
the  fort,  nor  would  they  bring  in  provisions  as  before. 
Some  of  the  crew  who  had  been  at  Stadacona  reported 
that  Indians  from  the  country  around  were  assembled  in 
great  numbers ;  Cartier  therefore  strengthened  his  forts 
and  prepared  for  an  effective  defence. 

Here  the  narrative  preserved  by  the  diligent  care  of 
the  most  worthy  Richard  Hakluyt  ceases,  and  there  is  no 
other  source  of  information  now  extant.  We  may  sur- 
mise from  scattered  indications  that  Cartier  passed  a 
miserable  winter  at  Charlesbourg  Royal.  There  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  any  actual  fighting  with  the  In- 
dians, but  suspicion  and  distrust  on  both  sides  isolated 
the  garrison.  Nothing  has  survived  about  any  attack  of 
scurvy,  and  Cartier's  ameda,  or  "  hanneda,  the  most 
excellent  tree  in  the  world,"  as  Hakluyt  has  it,  was  there 
in  plenty.  His  promise  to  tell  more  of  its  virtues  may 
have  been  carried  out,  but  as  the  narrative  is  cut  ab- 
ruptly off  we  are  only  able  to  gather  that  it  stood  him  in 
good  stead  once  more. 

Roberval  had,  as  we  have  seen,  left  St.  Malo  and  gone 
to  Honfleur  a  week  before  Cartier  sailed.  It  had  been 
arranged  that  he  should  sail  in  a  few  days,  and  Cartier 
lost  much  time  waiting  for  him  on  the  coast  of  New- 
foundland. But  he  delayed  all  through  the  summer, 
being  apparently  unable  to  bring  his  preparations  to  a 
completion.  He  did  hire  two  vessels  at  Honfleur;  but 
not  until  June  19.  In  July  the  King  complained  of  his 
procrastination.  The  records  show  that  he  was  in 
France,  still  preparing  to  sail,  on  August  15.  And, 
again,  that  one  of  his  vessels  was  at  Honfleur  at  Christ- 
mas, 1 541 ;  from  which  it  is  evident  that  he  did  not  sail 
during  that  year.     During  the  winter  he  did  some  free- 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     201 

booting  work  in  the  Channel,  for  we  find  a  private  letter 
to  the  King,  from  the  French  Ambassador  at  London, 
complaining  of  his  operations.  He  had  established  his 
headquarters  at  Camaret,  on  the  coast  of  Bretagne,  a 
few  miles  south  of  Brest,  from  whence  under  various 
pretexts  he  plundered  not  only  friendly  foreigners,  but 
even  subjects  of  France.  This  work  was  more  con- 
genial to  his  nature  than  colonisation.  The  special  feat 
which  provoked  the  letter  referred  to  was  the  plunder 
of  an  English  ship,  from  which  he  took  six  hundred 
quintals  of  iron  and  four  hundred  skins  of  morocco, 
which  he  sold  for  his  own  profit.  These  facts  are  estab- 
lished by  documents,  and  it  follows  that  the  theories  of 
his  having  made  a  voyage  to  Cape  Breton  and  built  a 
fort  there  are  unfounded.  There  is  a  great  deal  of 
obscurity  about  the  doings  of  Roberval,  and  it  is  mainly 
caused  by  a  disregard  of  the  calendar  then  in  use  in 
France.  To  this  fertile  source  of  error  must  be  added 
the  contradictory  statements  of  Charlevoix,  Lescarbot, 
and  many  others  who,  although  nearer  to  the  time,  had 
not  the  records  before  them  which  the  diligent  research 
of  recent  writers  has  brought  to  light.  Without  dwell- 
ing upon  these  errors,  one  fact  must  be  noted,  that  Paul 
d'Auxillon,  Seigneur  de  Saineterre,  was  captain  of  one 
of  Roberval's  ships,  the  Ste.  Anne,  lying,  at  Christmas, 
1541,  in  the  harbour  of  Audemer  close  to  Honfleur;  and, 
a  tumult  having  arisen,  he  killed  a  sailor  called  Barbot. 
Noting  this  for  the  present,  we  may  pass  on  to  the  estab- 
lished fact  that  Roberval  really  did  sail  for  America  on 
April  16,  1542,  and  from  La  Rochelle,  not  from  Honfleur. 
We  are  dependent  upon  Hakluyt  for  the  only  account 
of  this  voyage  which  exists,  and  his  narrative  of  this  also, 
unfortunately,  breaks  ofiF  abruptly  in  the  middle ;  but  we 
learn  that  Roberval's  fleet  consisted  of  three  ships,  with 
two  hundred  persons,  men  and  women,  for  his  object 
was  to  found  a  colony.  His  lieutenant  was  M.  de 
Saineterre,  above  mentioned,  and  his  pilot  the  well-known 
Jean  Alphonse  of  Saintonge.  There  were  some  gentle- 
men of  quality  upon  the  expedition,  but  on  the  other 


202    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

hand  many  of  the  crew  were  convicts  from  the  prisons. 
The  weather  was  so  bad  that  the  fleet  had  to  seek  refuge 
for  a  time  at  Belle-Isle  in  Bretagne.  It  was  not  until 
June  7  that  they  reached  Newfoundland,  and  on  June 
8  the  ships  entered  the  harbour  of  St.  John's.  He  had 
not  been  long  there  when,  to  his  great  surprise,  three 
ships  arrived  bearing  Cartier  and  all  the  survivors  of 
the  party  which  had  left  St.  Malo  the  preceding  spring. 
They  had  abandoned  Charlesbourg  Royal  and  were  on 
the  way  to  France.  Cartier  at  once  paid  his  respects  to 
Roberval,  but  we  may  gather  from  Hakluyt  that  the  in- 
terview was  stormy.  Cartier  gave  a  good  account  of  the 
country,  and  showed  what  he  supposed  to  be  diamonds 
and  gold  ore.  He  reported  that  the  Indians  had  been 
incessantly  hostile,  and  that,  his  party  not  being  strong 
enough  to  resist  them  longer,  he  had  decided  to  return  to 
France.  Roberval  ordered  Cartier  to  put  back  and  join 
the  expedition,  but  in  the  night  Cartier  weighed  anchor 
and  sailed  for  St.  Malo,  where  he  arrived  in  safety.  Car- 
tier  and  his  companions  had  suffered  enough  from  Rober- 
val, and  would  not  risk  a  winter  in  Canada  under  his 
inexperienced  command.  Roberval's  haughty  and  im- 
perious character  would  have  led  him  to  exercise  force  to 
compel  obedience,  and  Cartier  settled  the  matter  very 
simply  without  bloodshed.  He  had  fulfilled  the  orders  of 
the  King  in  conducting  the  expedition  to  Canada.  He 
had  not  engaged  for  an  indefinite  time  dependent  upon 
the  will  of  Roberval.  His  vessels  had  been  fitted  out  in 
great  part  before  his  commission  had  been  superseded  by 
that  of  Roberval.  No  reproach  was  made  to  Cartier 
upon  his  return,  for,  although  he  may  have  fallen  into  dis- 
favour with  the  court,  his  conduct  was  not  contrary  to 
the  usage  of  the  period,  or  some  attempt  would  have 
been  made  to  blame  him  in  the  after  suit  at  law  with 
Roberval. 

Roberval  remained  at  St.  John's  all  the  month  of  June, 
His  vo\age  had  been  long,  and  he  had  to  take  in  wood 
and  water;  but  his  time  was  chiefly  wasted  in  deciding 
quarrels  between  the  French  and  Portuguese,  for  there 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     203 

were  seventeen  sail  of  fishing  vessels  in  the  harbour  when 
he  arrived.  His  commission  did  not  cover  Newfound- 
land, and  a  delay  of  three  weeks  might  easily  have  been 
prejudicial  to  his  main  enterprise,  but  the  opportunity  to 
exercise  a  little  additional  authority  could  not  be  lost. 
He  sailed  at  the  end  of  June,  and  by  the  end  of  July  he 
was  landing  his  stores  and  erecting  forts  and  buildings  at 
Charlesbourg  Royal.  The  fact  that  Roberval  reached 
Canada  from  St.  John's  by  way  of  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle 
shows  how  little  was  known  of  the  passage  through 
Cabot  Strait. 

The  narrative  we  have  been  following  is  Hakluyt's. 
It  may  be  checked  occasionally  by  contemporary  docu- 
ments, but  there  is  no  other  narrative  extant,  and  nothing 
has  been  found  to  shake  its  authority.  Roberval  settled 
upon  the  site  of  the  Charlesbourg  of  Cartier,  and  there 
erected  forts  and  buildings  on  a  large  scale.  He  named 
the  place  "the  fort  of  Frangoys  Roy,"  and  it  was  situated, 
says  Hakluyt,  upon  "  the  great  river  of  Canada,  com- 
monly called  France  prime  by  Monsieur  Roberval."  The 
names  were  not  happily  chosen.  They  appear  in  various 
other  forms,  as  "  France  roy,"  "  Franci  Roy,"  "  Frangoys 
prime,"  in  the  books  and  documents.  The  great  viceroy 
could  hardly  be  expected  to  have  rested  content  with 
names  given  in  his  domain  by  a  mere  sailor  like  Car- 
tier.  All  through  the  months  of  August  and  September 
the  men  worked  at  these  buildings.  There  is  no  trace  of 
them  now,  but  as  they  were  all  of  wood,  and  it  was  three 
hundred  and  sixty  years  ago,  that  is  not  surprising. 

On  September  15  Roberval  sent  back  two  ships  to 
France.  One  of  them  was  under  the  command  of  his 
lieutenant.  Monsieur  de  Saineterre,  the  same  who,  on  or 
about  Christmas  of  the  preceding  year  (1541),  had  killed 
one  of  the  crew  of  the  Ste.  Anne  in  the  harbour  of  Aude- 
mer.  He  had  been  found  guilty  of  manslaughter  at  the 
time.  Roberval  issued  a  formal  pardon  (the  first  official 
document  issued  in  Canada),  under  his  great  seal  in 
lofty  vice-regal  style  addressed  "  to  all  royal  judges, 
seneschals,  and  other  officers,"  setting  forth  the  circum- 


204    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

stances  of  the  homicide,  and  that  the  people  who  convicted 
Saineterre  did  not  understand  the  matter.  These  ships 
carried  intelHn^ence  of  the  expedition,  and  were  to  return 
in  the  following  spring  with  such  supplies  as  the  King 
might  grant. 

After  the  ships  had  left  an  inquiry  was  made  as  to  the 
stores  and  provisions  for  the  winter,  when  it  was  found 
that  they  were  short,  and  the  company  had  forthwith  to  go 
upon  a  stinted  allowance.  The  Breton  pilot  had  taken 
the  great  nobleman  at  his  true  value.  The  viceroy,  upon 
whom  all  depended,  had  not  been  able  to  foresee  the 
requirements  of  his  own  party  for  a  year.  He  was  able, 
however,  to  maintain  discipline.  Hakluyt's  narrative 
gives  a  good  idea  of  it :  "  One  was  hanged  for  theft ; 
John  of  Nantes  was  laid  in  irons  and  kept  a  prisoner  for 
his  offence,  and  others  also  were  put  in  irons  and  divers 
were  whipped,  as  well  men  as  women ;  by  which  means 
they  lived  in  quiet."  Parkman  quotes  from  a  MS.  by 
Thevet,  showing  that  the  arbitrary  viceroy  made  a  little 
inferno  at  Cap  Rouge :  "Forced  to  unceasing  labour  and 
chafed  by  arbitrary  rules,  some  of  the  soldiers  fell  under 
Roberval's  displeasure,  and  six  of  them,  formerly  his 
favourites,  were  hanged  in  one  day.  Others  were  ban- 
ished to  an  island  and  there  kept  in  fetters ;  while  for 
various  offences  several,  both  men  and  women,  were  shot. 
Even  the  Indians  were  moved  to  pity  and  wept  at  the 
sight  of  their  woes."  With  all  allowance  for  Thevet's 
powers  of  exaggeration  they  were  an  unhappy  lot,  and 
the  day  when  they  all  went  back  to  France  was  a  for- 
tunate day  for  Canada.  To  crown  their  miseries,  the 
scurvy  broke  out  among  them  and  about  fifty  of  the  party 
died. 

The  ice  broke  up  in  April,  and  on  June  5,  1543,  Rober- 
va!  started  with  eight  boats  up  the  river  "  for  the  said 
provinces  of  Saguenay,"  by  which  phrasing  we  may  be 
sure  that  the  "  said  province  "  had  no  relation  to  the  river 
of  that  name  east  of  Quebec,  excepting  that  the  river  was 
supposed  to  rise  somewhere  there.  He  left  thirty  men 
as  a  garrison,  with  orders  that  if  he  did  not  return  by 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     205 

July  I  they  were  to  sail  for  France.  Some  of  his  party 
returned  to  the  fort  on  June  14,  and  some  more  on  June 
19,  with  letters  postponing  the  time  of  departure  to  July 
22,  and  bringing  news  that  one  boat  had  been  lost  and 
eight  men  drowned.  Here  the  narrative  of  Hakluyt 
abruptly  ends,  and  we  have  nothing  but  scattered  inci- 
dental notices  to  guide  us.  No  reports  exist  of  discoveries 
or  adventures  on  his  western  journey.  He  was  not  a  man 
to  succeed  in  any  serious  enterprise,  and  is  not  likely  to 
have  discovered  anything.  He  did,  however,  get  back  to 
France  that  summer  with  all  the  survivors  of  the  ex- 
pedition. How  he  got  back  is  a  question  much  disputed. 
It  has  been  shown  above,  by  the  evidence  of  a  document 
given  at  length  by  Harrisse,  that  Paul  d'Auxillon,  Seign- 
eur de  Saineterre,  was  captain  of  the  Ste.  Anne  on  or 
about  Christmas,  1541,  while  Cartier  was  wintering  in 
Canada.  It  has  also  been  shown  by  Hakluyt's  narrative 
that  he  sailed  with  Roberval  from  La  Rochelle,  and  that 
he  acted  as  Roberval's  lieutenant.  Moreover,  that  Rober- 
val, having  on  September  9,  1542,  issued  a  formal  pardon 
for  the  homicide  committed  by  him  near  Honfleur,  Saine- 
terre was  sent  back  to  France  from  Canada  on  September 
14,  1542.  Harrisse  has  given  in  his  "  Notes  "  two  docu- 
ments which,  taken  with  these  facts,  conclusively  settle 
the  question  as  to  how  Roberval  got  back.  The  first  is 
dated  January  26,  1542;  that  is  really  January  26,  1543, 
when  translated  into  our  reckoning,  because  by  the  calen- 
dar in  use  in  France  the  new  year  1543  did  not  commence 
until  Easter,  which  fell  that  year  on  March  25.  Saine- 
terre then  being  in  France  and  appealing  to  the  King  for 
aid  to  Roberval  in  Canada,  Francis  issued  the  document 
(dated  St.  Laurent,  January  26),  ordering  two  ships  to 
be  got  ready  and  despatched  to  the  relief  of  Roberval.  It 
then  sets  forth  that  M.  de  Saineterre,  having  been  the 
lieutenant  of  Roberval,  and  having  already  made  the  voy- 
age, he,  Saineterre,  is  competent  to  carry  out  the  King's 
intention  in  that  respect  "  as  well  and  better  than  any 
other  person."  How  far  these  last  words  are  a  reflection 
on  Cartier  it  is  not  necessary  to  inquire;   but  they  com- 


2o6    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

pletely  exclude  the  idea  that  Cartier  was  sent  to  reHeve 
Roberval,  and  they  estabhsh  the  fact  that  the  relief  ex- 
pedition was  to  sail  under  Saineterre's  command.  The 
second  document  confirms  this.  It  is  a  power  of  attor- 
ney, executed  by  Roberval,  then  in  France,  dated  Septem- 
ber II,  1543,  to  Saineterre,  empowering  him  to  proceed 
to  La  Rochelle  and  to  sell  or  charter  his  ship,  the  Ste. 
Anne,  and  dispose  of  the  stores  and  artillery  to  the  best 
advantage.  He  was  also  to  dispose  of  the  other  vessel, 
"  the  gallion,"  which  was  a  King's  ship,  and  to  pay  off  all 
the  soldiers  and  mariners.  The  evidence  is  thus  com- 
plete. Saineterre  sailed  in  the  spring  of  1543,  and 
brought  Roberval  and  all  his  people  back  to  France, 
where  they  arrived  at  some  date  not  long  prior  to  Septem- 
ber II. 

The  idea  of  Jacques  Cartier  having  made  a  fourth  voy- 
age to  Canada  is  thus  effectually  disposed  of ;  and  the 
documents  printed  by  Joiion  des  Longrais  confirm  this 
conclusion.  We  find  that  Cartier  was  present  at  a  bap- 
tism on  March  25,  1543,  and  is  witness  in  a  lawsuit  on 
July  3,  1543,  in  both  cases  at  St.  Malo.  M.  Jouon,  who 
otherwise  would  incline  to  a  fourth  voyage,  in  view  of 
this  last  date,  leaves  the  question  in  doubt;  but  Cartier, 
if  absent,  would  hardly  be  summoned  as  a  witness,  and  he 
could  not  have  testified  by  attorney.  The  question  has 
been  much  debated  in  Canada,  and  opinion  is  divided  as 
to  whether  the  supposed  fourth  voyage  was  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1543  or  extended  from  the  autumn  of  1543  to  the 
summer  of  1544,  thus  giving  Cartier  another  winter  in 
Canada,  and  making  Roberval  stay  over  two  winters. 
The  basis  upon  which  the  theory  of  a  fourth  voyage  has 
been  built  up  is  a  sentence  in  the  award  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Inquiry  into  the  accounts  of  Cartier  and  Rober- 
val, which  Lescarbot  took  to  refer  to  Cartier;  but  the 
Abbe  Verreau  has  justly  pointed  out  that  the  point  is  one 
solely  of  the  hire  of  a  vessel  for  a  second  voyage,  and 
does  not  involve  any  statement  that  Cartier  had  sailed  in 
the  vessel. 

Roberval,  having  returned  in  the  autumn  of  1543,  soon 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     207 

got  into  a  dispute  with  Cartier  about  the  accounts  for  the 
expedition,  and  the  King,  on  April  3,  1544,  appointed  a 
commission  to  inquire  into  the  whole  matter.  After 
minute  inquiry  it  reported  that  Cartier  had  paid  out  more 
than  he  had  received,  and  there  was  due  to  him  the  sum  of 
8638  livres,  4  sols,  6  deniers.  This  sum  was  never 
repaid  him.  Roberval  was  ruined.  He  had  dissi- 
pated his  great  patrimony  in  extravagant  living,  and  had 
procured  the  vice-royalty  of  Canada  in  hope  of  restoring 
his  fortune  by  mines  of  gold  and  precious  stones  to  be 
found  there.  He  is  met  with,  later  in  the  documents,  as 
holding  a  royal  commission  to  rebuild  the  fortifications 
of  Senlis ;  then,  in  1553,  as  commissioner  and  controller 
of  all  the  mines  in  France,  and  again  as  commissioner  on 
the  fortifications  of  Paris.  He  disappears  about  the  year 
1560,  and  Thevet  records  that  he  was  assassinated  at 
night  near  the  Church  of  the  Innocents  at  Paris — which, 
like  all  of  Thevet's  statements,  requires  collateral  con- 
firmation. Another  story  is  that  he  again  made  an  efifort 
to  take  possession  of  his  Canadian  vice-royalty  and  per- 
ished in  the  attempt.  It  was  not  by  men  such  as  he  that 
Canada  was  to  be  explored  or  colonised. 

It  is  impossible  to  close  this  episode  of  Canadian  dis- 
covery without  reference  to  the  romantic  story  of  Mar- 
guerite, the  niece  of  Roberval.  Passed  through  the 
alembic  of  Thevet's  imagination,  an  island  on  the  coast  of 
Labrador  became  the  theatre  of  a  struggle  for  a  human 
soul  between  the  powers  of  the  celestial  world  and  the 
demons  of  the  pit.  As  a  piece  of  constructive  mendacity 
it  has  been  successful  in  inspiring  the  graceful  prose  of 
Parkman  and  in  becoming  the  theme  of  a  Canadian  poem 
of  much  merit.  Like  all  good  story-tellers,  Thevet  per- 
sonally knew  the  parties.  Marguerite,  a  high-bom  dam- 
sel, niece  of  Roberval,  with  her  duenna  had  sailed  with 
her  harsh  uncle  for  his  Canadian  domain.  Her  secret 
lover  sailed  also  upon  the  expedition,  and  on  the  voyage 
her  passion  became  known.  Roberval  dissembled  his 
anger  until  they  were  off  the  Isle  of  Demons,  when  he 
ordered  the  sailors  to  put  his  niece  and  her  old  nurse 


2o8    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

ashore  and  leave  them  to  their  fate.  Four  guns  were 
given  them  and  a  small  supply  of  provisions.  Her  lover, 
thereupon  scorning  concealment,  threw  himself  into  the 
surf  and  got  safely  ashore ;  Thevet  says  with  two  more 
guns  and  a  supply  of  ammunition  and  other  necessary 
things.  Let  no  sceptic  doubt,  however,  the  existence  of 
the  Demon's  Isle,  for  it  is  in  the  maps  of  the  period,  and  is 
especially  prominent  in  the  map  "  of  that  most  excellent 
cosmographer,  Jacomo  di  Gastaldi,"  in  Ramusio's  Col- 
lection of  Voyages.  There  may  be  seen  the  devils,  with 
wings,  tails,  and  claws,  eagerly  alert  for  poor  human 
souls.  Abandoned  in  this  savage  wilderness  the  lovers 
made  out  to  live  upon  the  wild  creatures  on  the  island ; 
but  the  youth  died,  and  the  child  which  came  to  them 
died,  and  at  last  the  old  nurse  died,  and  the  poor  lady 
was  left  alone  with  the  wild  beasts.  The  bears,  "  white 
as  an  egg,"  and  creatures  still  more  hideous  and  repulsive 
thronged  round ;  but  worse  than  them  all  were 

"  The  shrieks  and  howls 
Of  fiends  malignant  high  o'er  roar  of  waves 
Torturing  the  souls  of  men." 

But  Heaven  was  on  the  side  of  the  repentant  Mar- 
guerite, and  Our  Lady  of  Pity  barred  her  round  with 
invisible  safeguards.  The  story  lends  itself  readily  to 
the  most  touching  embellishments,  but  we  cannot  follow 
them  farther.  For  nineteen  months  Marguerite  strug- 
gled with  beasts  and  demons,  until  at  last  a  passing  fish- 
ing vessel,  seeing  smoke,  as  of  a  fire  kindled  by  human 
hands,  and  the  despairing  gestures  of  a  wild  human  being 
dressed  in  skins,  ventured  upon  these  shores  of  evil  omen 
and  carried  away  the  poor  lady  to  her  home  in  France. 
The  story,  says  Parkman,  has  no  doubt  a  nucleus  of 
truth;  and  the  ever-judicious  Abbe  Ferland  says  it  con- 
tains very  much  less  truth  than  falsehood.  This  nucleus 
of  truth  may  surely  be  found  in  the  "  Heptameron  "  of 
the  "  pearl  of  Marguerites,"  the  sister  of  Francis,  Queen 
Margaret  of  Navarre.    It  is  the  sixty-seventh  tale,  and  re- 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     209 

lates  how  a  poor  woman,  to  save  the  Hfe  of  her  husband, 
risked  her  own,  and  never  left  him  until  his  death.  Here 
everything  falls  into  rational  order,  and  as  it  was  pub- 
lished in  1559,  only  fifteen  years  after  the  occurrence,  we 
may  reasonably  accept  it.  She  relates  that  Roberval,  when 
by  the  King's  orders  he  went  to  "  the  island  of  Canada," 
took  with  him  all  sorts  of  artisans  to  build  his  projected 
cities  and  castles,  and  among  them  was  a  man  whom 
Roberval  pronounced  guilty  of  treason,  and  condemned  to 
death.  His  wife,  with  tears  and  supplications,  and  plead- 
ing his  former  services,  endeavoured  in  vain  to  soften  the 
viceroy's  anger.  She  was  only  able  to  modify  his  sen- 
tence to  abandonment  upon  a  small  island  inhabited 
solely  by  wild  beasts.  She  would  not  leave  her  husband, 
but  willingly  shared  his  fate.  There  they  built  a  little 
hut  and  lived  upon  herbs  and  the  animals  they  killed. 
The  man  died,  and  the  poor  woman  buried  him  as  best 
she  could,  and  fought  off  the  wild  beasts  which  came  to 
devour  his  body.  She  supported  herself  by  her  arquebus, 
killing  the  game  so  abundant  in  those  early  days,  until  at 
last  she  was  taken  off  by  some  passing  sailors  and  carried 
to  Rochelle.  There,  says  the  Queen,  when  her  story  be- 
came known,  she  was  received  in  great  honour  among 
ladies,  because  of  her  great  confidence  in  God,  and  as  an 
example  of  his  great  mercy.  Jean  Allefonse  was  Rober- 
val's  pilot,  and  must  have  witnessed  the  incident,  what- 
ever it  was.  In  his  "  Routier  "  he  partially  confirms  the 
story  by  giving  the  name  "  Isle  de  la  damoiselle  "  to  what 
are  now  called  the  Meccatina  Islands  on  the  coast  of  the 
Quebec  Labrador.  It  will  add  some  interest  to  Grand 
Meccatina  Island  to  know  that  it  is  the  scene  of  this 
touching  story. 

The  character  and  voyages  of  Cartier  are  an  unfailing 
subject  of  interest,  not  only  to  the  people  of  the  Canada 
he  discovered,  but  to  the  scholars  of  the  United  States 
who  have  done  so  much  for  Canadian  history.  The  na- 
tional pride  of  Canadians  of  French  origin  has,  with  the 
aid  of  a  few  kindred  scholars  in  France,  followed  with 
pious  diligence  every  trace  of  his  career.     The  Literary 


2IO    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

and  Historical  Society  of  Quebec  published  in  1843  an 
edition  of  his  voyages,  in  which,  following  Lescarbot,  his 
name  is  spelled  Quartier;  but  as  he  himself  spelled  it 
Cartier,  we  may  be  content  therewith.  He  was  the  prime 
mover  in  the  first  expedition  to  follow  up  the  avenue 
opening  to  the  west  by  the  Grand  Bay — Belle-Isle  Strait. 
He  made  the  proposals  to  the  Admiral  Chabot  de  Brion, 
and  the  latter  carried  them  before  the  King.  The  King 
contributed  the  chief  part  of  the  expense,  but  Cartier  in 
the  sequel  lost  heavily  out  of  his  own  private  means. 

It  has  been  said  that  Cartier  was  ennobled,  but  there 
is  no  proof  of  it,  and  the  evidence  inclines  the  other  way. 
It  has  also  been  said  that  the  King  gave  him  the  manor 
of  Limoileu,  but  Cartier  bought  and  paid  for  that  out 
of  his  private  means.  It  was  his  home  in  summer, 
looking  over  the  open  sea,  as  a  sailor's  house  should  do. 
In  winter  he  lived  in  the  town  of  St.  Malo  near  by.  If 
he  is  occasionally  styled  Sieur  de  Limoileu,  it  by  no 
means  implies  the  existence  of  a  patent  of  nobility,  for 
it  was  not  uncommon  for  proprietors,  even  small  pro- 
prietors, to  be  called  sieurs  or  seigneurs  of  any  estate 
they  might  own,  no  matter  how  acquired.  The  discov- 
erer of  Canada  owes  nothing  to  the  King.  When  he 
had  opened  up  the  St.  Lawrence  valley  leading  to  un- 
known possibilities  of  wealth  and  power,  Francis  gave 
the  lordship  and  the  command  to  an  unworthy  court 
favourite  who  had  squandered  his  own  patrimony  and 
whose  only  qualifications  were  arrogance  and  harsh- 
ness. The  King  used  his  royal  power  to  compel  Cartier 
to  put  his  abilities  at  the  service  of  a  man  without  knowl- 
edge, capacity,  or  foresight,  and  it  was  owing  solely  to 
his  practical  assistance  that  the  first  part  of  Roberval's 
expedition  was  got  off.  Roberval  was  fitted  to  dissipate, 
not  to  administer,  to  intimidate  his  followers  by  whip- 
ping, hanging,  and  shooting,  or  to  abandon  them  to  per- 
ish for  imagined  crimes.  Cartier  conducted  three  expe- 
ditions, and  his  men  gave  him  the  willing  obedience  which 
only  a  competent  master  can  obtain.  There  were  no 
mutinies,  no  treasons,  no  punishments  in  Cartier's  crews. 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     211 

When  Cartier  took  out  the  first  portion  of  Roberval's 
expedition  he  obeyed  the  command  of  the  King  and  per- 
formed his  task.  He  was  not  bound  to  serve  perma- 
nently under  Roberval  in  Canada,  the  more  especially 
since  Roberval  had  failed  to  follow  and  support  the  first 
detachment.  The  incompetence  of  Roberval  is  evident 
from  the  one  fact  that  instead  of  having  provisions  for 
two  years  he  had  to  put  his  party  on  short  allowance 
within  a  month  of  their  arrival  in  Canada.  Cartier 
could  have  done  nothing  under  Roberval,  for  he  would 
have  been  subordinate  even  to  the  viceroy's  favourites. 
He  was  no  courtier  to  keep  his  ground  by  fawning  and 
intrigue,  and  his  career  would  have  ended  by  being  shot 
or  marooned  on  some  desert  island  by  order  of  the  trucu- 
lent viceroy,  who  was  all  the  more  jealous  of  his  dignity 
and  suspicious  of  his  followers  because  of  his  own  unfit- 
ness to  command. 

In  previous  chapters  we  have  seen  great  sailors  coast- 
ing along  the  northeastern  shores  of  the  continent,  but 
Cartier  penetrated  to  its  heart.  To  borrow  the  words  of 
the  King's  commission,  it  was  he  "  who  discovered  the 
great  country  of  the  lands  belonging  to  Canada  and 
Hochelaga " — who  discovered  the  regions  of  Quebec 
and  Montreal  and  the  adjacent  lands,  and  opened  up  the 
great  river  to  the  impassable  rapids  of  Lachine.  We 
shall  come  to  another  Frenchman  of  the  same  stamp,  who 
took  up  Cartier's  task  and  revealed  the  upper  valley  as 
Cartier  did  the  lower.  Not  to  Cabot,  to  Verrazano,  to 
Corte-Real,  to  Gomez,  or  to  Fagundez, — not  to  English, 
to  Spaniards,  to  Portuguese,  or  to  mythical  Basques  was 
it  given  to  discover  the  valley  of  the  majestic  river  of  the 
north, — but  to  the  brave,  good-hearted,  practical,  com- 
petent sailor  of  St.  Malo. 

In  his  profession  Cartier  may  be  easily  counted  in  the 
front  rank.  He  never  lost  a  vessel,  although  when  on 
the  shores  of  Labrador  he  sailed  close  in  examining  the 
most  dangerous  coast  in  the  gulf ;  and  elsewhere  in 
the  gulf  and  river  he  followed  along  the  shores,  noting  the 
rocks  and  other  dangers  and  recording  them  with  won- 


212    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

derful  accuracy.  His  powers  of  observation  were  quick 
and  strong,  and  his  curiosity  led  him  to  note  and  describe 
with  accuracy  the  strange  objects  which  presented  them- 
selves in  the  New  World.  He  was  a  religious  man  in 
the  fullest  and  best  sense  of  the  word.  That  he  was  a 
good  Catholic  would  naturally  follow  from  his  Breton 
birth;  but  Cartier's  religion  led  him  to  perform  all  the 
ordinary  duties  of  life  faithfully  and  in  a  kindly  spirit, 
whether  in  his  family  or  among  his  fellow-townsmen. 
His  social  qualities  enabled  him  to  enjoy  the  life  of  his 
native  town.  Everywhere  his  name  is  found  in  its 
records.  Sometimes  he  is  found  acting  as  an  expert  in 
trials  about  captures  at  sea,  about  the  price  of  ships' 
stores,  about  the  number  of  vessels  available  in  the  ports 
of  Bretagne,  about  the  currents  in  the  waters  near  St. 
Malo.  We  find  him  acting  as  Portuguese  interpreter  in 
a  case  before  the  court  and  taking  part  in  family  coun- 
cils and  settlements.  He  had  no  children,  but  it  was  his 
delight  to  assist  at  baptisms,  often  as  sponsor,  and  the 
dates  of  his  career  are  traced  by  his  presence  at  more 
than  seventy.  In  these  days,  in  the  simple  customs  of 
the  province,  a  baptism  was  a  great  social  event  and  cel- 
ebrated with  rejoicing  and  a  generous  feast.  One  of 
them,  in  1552,  throws  a  sidelight  on  the  natural  gaiety 
of  his  character,  for  it  is  gravely  recorded  that  the  entry 
was  made  in  the  presence  of  Captain  Jacques  Cartier 
"  et  aultres  bons  biberons."  This  little  touch  of  humour 
in  the  formality  of  the  register  reveals  the  discoverer  of 
Canada  off  duty,  mixing  as  a  joyous  companion  in  the 
social  affairs  of  his  fellow-citizens — equal  not  only  to 
watch  over  his  comrades  in  the  wilds  of  the  New  World, 
but  to  join  heartily  in  the  gaieties  of  their  social  life  at 
home.  Five  years  later,  on  September  i,  1557,  Cartier 
died  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years,  probably  of  the  plague 
then  prevalent  at  St.  Malo. 

Compared  with  Columbus,  the  Breton  captain  was 
inferior  in  education,  learning,  and  intellectual  power. 
Bretagne  was  far  removed  from  the  influence  of  the 
Renaissance,  then  at  its  height.  The  duchy  had  kept  aloof 


CARTIER'S  THIRD  VOYAGE     213 

from  the  national  life  of  France,  and  French  influences 
were  not  always  welcome.  The  narrow  life  of  a  town 
in  a  remote  province  was  far  different  from  the  brilliant 
activity  of  cities  like  Rome,  Venice,  Genoa,  Seville,  or 
Lisbon,  where  the  life  of  Columbus  was  passed.  But  he 
was  as  brave,  and  possessed  greater  ability  as  a  com- 
mander of  men.  The  morbid  vanity  of  Columbus  and 
his  overweening  estimate  of  his  own  merits  unfitted  him 
to  secure  the  willing  obedience  of  his  men.  He  was 
envious  of  the  merits  of  others  and  insatiable  in  exacting 
recognition  of  his  own.  The  achievement  of  Cartier 
was  infinitely  less,  for  Columbus  showed  the  way  to  the 
New  World ;  but  on  the  moral  and  religious  side  of  char- 
acter Cartier  is  a  fitter  subject  for  canonisation  than 
Columbus.  Cartier  carried  away  ten  natives,  intending 
to  bring  them  back  baptised  Christians  as  interpreters 
to  their  people ;  but  Columbus  inaugurated  the  system 
of  deceit  and  cruelty,  of  forced  labour  and  slavery, 
which  exterminated  the  Carib  race  in  one  generation  and 
ran  up  a  score  of  bloodshed  and  oppression  which  long 
years  of  despotism,  confusion,  and  anarchy  have  not  yet 
worked  out. 


Cartographical  Results  of  the  Cartier  Voyages 

Students  of  the  history  of  exploration  in  the  New  World  are 
much  indebted  to  the  Earl  of  Crawford  for  the  reproduction  of 
the  three  world-maps,  A,  B,  and  C,  in  the  "  Bibliotheca 
Lindesiana."  The  Harleyan  map  (lettered  A)  was  described 
by  Harrisse,  in  1882,  at  p.  197  of  his  "  Jean  et  Sebastien  Cabot." 
A  tracing  of  the  northern  part  of  the  American  coast  had  been 
communicated  by  Jomard  to  Kohl.  It  was  a  mere  outline,  and 
is  No.  157  in  the  Kohl  Collection  at  Washington.  Winsor  repro- 
duced the  same  outline  ("  Narr.  &  Crit.  Hist.,"  Vol.  IV.,  pp. 
88-89),  in  1889,  having  received  it  from  Kohl,  and,  from  the  fact 
that  the  tracing  had  been  originally  received  from  Jomard,  it 
was  called  in  America  the  Jomard  Map.  Winsor  did  not  rec- 
ognise its  importance  nor  identify  it  with  the  Harleyan  Map  of 
Harrisse  in  the  British  Museum. 

Map  B  of  Lord  Crawford's  collection  has  long  been  known  to 
scholars  from  the  fac-simile  reproduction  in  Jomard's  "  Monu- 
ments de  la  Geographic,"  1862.    Extracts  from  it  have  frequently 


214    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

been  published  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  It  was  usually 
referred  to  as  the  "  Henry  II.,"  or  sometimes  the  "  Dauphin," 
map.  It  has  become  discoloured  by  age,  and  on  that  account  is 
difficult  to  reproduce.     It  is  of  great  historical  value. 

Map  C  was  fully  described  by  Harrisse,  at  p.  229  of  his  "  Jean 
et  Sebastien  Cabot,"  in  1882,  and  is  mentioned  by  Winsor ;  but  its 
value  was  not  recognised  and  no  extract  from  it  has  appeared. 
The  extracts  from  Maps  A  and  C  now  given  reproduce  in  effect 
Cartier's  lost  maps,  for  the  information  upon  which  they  are 
based  must  have  been  communicated  by  him,  and  hence  arises 
their  great  importance  in  the  history  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley. 


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CHAPTER    XIV 

t 

CARTIER  TO  CHAM  PLAIN 

j4  LTHOUGH,  as  we  shall  see,  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
/%  rence  continued  to  be  visited,  it  was  by  private 
I  ^  traders,  and  no  advance  was  made  in  the  cartog- 
raphy of  that  part  of  North  America  for  fifty 
years  after  the  result  of  Cartier's  last  voyage  became 
known.  This  will  not  be  surprising  if  we  reflect  that 
those  who  frequented  the  gulf  had  every  reason  to  keep 
their  information  secret,  lest  when  one  had  discovered  a 
good  place  for  trade  and  had  established  relations  with 
the  natives  some  rival  merchant  should  intervene  and 
destroy  his  profits,  Newfoundland  had,  indeed,  been 
demonstrated  by  Cartier  to  be  separated  from  the  main 
continent,  but  for  many  years  the  cartographers  broke  it 
up  into  an  archipelago  of  fragments  corresponding  to 
the  deep  indentations  of  its  coast  line.  These  islands 
gradually  coalesced  as  knowledge  increased.  Mr.  Har- 
risse,  in  his  "  Decouverte  et  Evolution  Cartographique  de 
Terre-neuve,"  has  set  forth  the  process  of  disintegration 
and  reintegration  so  thoroughly  that  to  go  over  it  again 
would  be  lost  time.  In  the  St.  Lawrence  river  valley 
there  was  no  progress  in  geography.  As  Cartier  left  it 
Champlain  found  it,  and  we  may  pause  for  a  moment  to 
consider  the  results  recorded  on  the  maps. 

The  motive  of  Cartier's  voyage  is  shown  by  a  map  of 
Agnese,  dated  1536.  In  it  the  routes  to  Cathay  are  given. 
To  the  south  is  Magellan's  Strait ;  in  the  centre  is  the 
route  by  Panama ;  and  further  north  a  dotted  line  shows 
the  direct  route  from  France  to  Quinsay,  by  that  ocean 
which  Verrazano  thought  he  saw  when  he  looked  into 
Cheasapeake  Bay,  or  into  one  of  the  sounds  on  the  Caro- 

215 


2i6    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

lina  coast,  across  the  isthmus  reported  to  be  only  six  miles 
wide.  Another  map,  bearing  the  same  date,  1536,  bears 
evidence  of  Cartier's  influence,  for  a  dotted  line  indicat- 
ing the  route  to  Cathay  passes  through  an  opening 
between  Newfoundland  and  Cape  Breton,  showing  that 
some  report  of  the  promise  of  Cartier's  first  voyage  had 
reached  the  cartographer. 

The  results  of  Cartier's  efforts  began  to  appear  clearly 
in  a  world  map,  dated  1541,  by  Nicholas  Desliens  of 
Dieppe.  This  map  embodies  the  discoveries  of  the  sec- 
ond voyage  as  far  up  the  St.  Lawrence  as  Quebec,  but 
not  beyond.  It  is  in  the  Harleyan  world  map,  given  to 
scholars  among  the  reproductions  of  the  "  Bibliotheca 
Lindesiana,"  that  we  find  the  complete  discoveries  of  the 
Cartier  voyages  for  the  first  time.  An  extract  from  the 
American  portion  of  this  important  map  is  given  at  page 
216.  All  the  names  given  by  Cartier  in  his  first  and 
second  voyages  are  laid  down  in  it.  Hochelaga  is  rep- 
resented as  a  territory,  not  as  a  town,  and  the  junction  of 
the  Ottawa  with  the  St.  Lawrence  is  shown  there  as 
Cartier  saw  it  from  Mount  Royal.  No  one  but  he  could 
have  given  information  so  detailed  and  so  nearly  accu- 
rate. The  river  is  recognisable  at  a  glance,  and  com- 
pared with  the  delineations  of  the  Penobscot  and  the  La 
Plata,  repeated  for  so  long  a  period  in  distorted  and  ex- 
aggerated forms,  this  map  of  the  great  river  of  Canada 
marks  the  careful  accuracy  of  Cartier's  reports.  The 
map  is  anonymous,  but  is  supposed  to  have  been  drawn  at 
Arques,  near  Dieppe,  by  Desceliers,  upon  the  information, 
as  regards  Canada,  of  Cartier's  own  maps.  One  point  of 
special  interest  appears  on  the  map,  though  not  in  the 
narrative — the  name  of  his  native  town  and  point  of  de- 
parture, St.  Malo,  marks  the  farthest  point  west  reached 
by  Cartier.  The  date  assigned  on  the  reproduction, 
"  Circa  1536,"  must  be  liberally  interpreted,  for  Cartier 
did  not  return  from  his  second  voyage  until  July,  1536, 
and  this  is  a  world-map  requiring  considerable  time  to 
compile  after  the  information  had  reached  Dieppe.  The 
delusion  of  a  central  route  to  China  goes  in  this  map  to 


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CARTIER  TO   CHAMPLAIN     217 

its  farthest  limit,  for  the  "Great  South  Sea"  of  Ver- 
razano  not  only  sweeps  through  the  continent  to  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  Atlantic  coast  at  North  Carolina,  but  a 
channel,  the  River  de  Ste.  Helene,  connects  the  two 
oceans  across  the  imagined  isthmus. 

Another  map  has  been  reproduced  in  the  "  Bibliotheca 
Lindesiana,"  very  important  in  this  connection,  for  it  con- 
tains the  results  of  the  third  expedition  under  Cartier,  in 
1541-42,  and  Roberval,  in  1542-43.  It  also  was  made  by 
Desceliers  at  Arques,  and  is  dated  1546.  Jomard  pub- 
lished an  excellent  fac-simile  in  his  Atlas,  but  the  map  is 
known  in  the  American  books  as  the  Henry  II.  or  Dauphin 
map.  The  geography  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  names 
are  a  repetition  of  the  Harleyan  map,  but  the  additional 
name,  Franciroy,  and  the  drawing  of  Roberval  and  his 
men  mark  the  later  date.  From  this  we  may  see  that 
Roberval  went  no  farther  west  than  Cartier. 

The  third  of  this  invaluable  series  of  reproductions  is 
another  by  Desceliers,  dated  1550;  a  beautiful  specimen 
of  cartographic  art,  profusely  adorned  with  pictures  of 
the  quaint  notions  then  current  about  Canada — among 
them  a  battle  between  the  pygmies  and  the  cranes  in  the 
region  around  the  present  city  of  Ottawa.  These  annual 
battles  in  Homer's  time  were  in  Africa,  but  succeeding 
authors  changed  their  habitat  northwards,  and  one  an- 
cient commentator  places  them  in  England.  In  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  Tartary  was  the  field  of  these  perennial  conflicts, 
and  Jean  Allefonce,  Roberval's  pilot,  expressed  the  opin- 
ion, then  and  for  many  years  later  current  in  France, 
when  he  wrote  of  the  regions  west  of  Hochelaga,  that 
"  these  countries  form  part  of  Tartary."  In  Cartier 's 
commission  Canada  is  said  to  be  the  "  end  of  Asia  in  the 
west,"  and  the  Dieppe  cartographer  saw  nothing  irra- 
tional in  portraying  so  usual  an  occurrence  in  Tartary. 
The  map,  although  at  least  six  years  later  than  the 
Harleyan  map,  is  as  regards  Canada  hardly  as  correct 
geographically.  The  location  of  "  Totunagay  "  and  the 
remark,  at  the  junction  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Ottawa, 
that  "  Monsieur  Roberval  went  as  far  as  here,"  shows 


2i8    THE  ST.   LAWRENCE  BASIN 

that  the  latest  reports  of  Cartier  and  Roberval  are 
embodied. 

At  this  point  also  comes  in  the  map  of  Sebastian  Cabot, 
dated  1544,  the  subject  of  much  misconception  and  con- 
troversy. This  map,  though  published  in  the  Nether- 
lands, was  based  upon  the  information  of  Cabot,  who  was 
then  at  Seville.  Its  conclusive  testimony  in  favour  of 
Cape  Breton  as  the  landfall  of  John  Cabot's  first  voyage 
has  been  already  pointed  out.  A  sketch  of  the  Cape 
Breton  portion  has  been  given,  see  page  32.  It  will 
be  seen  at  once  that  the  American  portion,  at  least,  is 
little  more  than  a  copy  of  Besliens'  map  of  1541,  with 
additional  information  from  Cartier's  reports  or  maps, 
and  the  name  tuttonaer  at  the  most  western  point  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  shows  that  the  information  was  brought 
down  closely  to  date,  for  it  is  the  Tutonagay  of  Cartier's 
third  voyage.  The  Ottawa  River  is  not  shown,  but  in 
their  strangely  distorted  Spanish  translation  the  French 
names  of  Cartier  will  be  recognised. 

The  maps  drawn  by  Cartier  have  perished,  and  while 
those  above  mentioned  embody,  so  far  as  the  scale  of 
world  maps  would  allow,  most  of  his  discoveries,  we  learn 
from  a  letter  from  Jacques  Noel,  a  nephew  of  Cartier, 
written  in  1587,  and  preserved  by  Hakluyt,  that  there 
was  laid  down  on  Cartier's  own  charts  a  great  lake  west 
of  Hochelaga.  Cartier  learned  of  it  from  the  Indians  at 
the  saults  (Lachine  Rapids),  and  that  it  was  ten  days' 
journey  distance  from  thence.  This  is  the  first  indication 
we  meet  with  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  Noel  says,  in  another 
letter,  that  upon  a  sea  chart  at  St.  Malo,  the  only  map  of 
Cartier's  he  could  find,  he  saw  in  his  uncle's  own  writing 
at  the  place  beyond  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers  (St. 
Lawrence  and  Ottawa)  the  words,  "  By  the  people  of 
Canada  and  Hochelaga  it  was  said ;  that  here  is  the  land 
of  Saguenay,  which  is  rich  and  wealthy  in  precious 
stones."  This  map  also  has  disappeared,  but  the  chief 
results  of  Cartier's  expeditions  are  recorded  on  the  maps 
cited  above,  and  the  geography  of  what  is  now  known  as 
Canada  remained  unchanged  for  sixty  years. 


CARTIER   TO   CHAMPLAIN     219 

Although  the  name  of  Jean  Allefonsce,  or  Alphonse, 
occurs  frequently  in  the  records  of  early  voyages,  he  does 
not  seem  to  have  added  anything  to  existing  knowledge. 
He  was  celebrated  in  those  days  for  his  skill  and  experi- 
ence, and  after  Cartier  left  France  in  1541  he  was  en- 
gaged by  Roberval  and  sailed  with  him  in  1542.  His 
Routier  in  Hakluyt's  voyages  goes  only  as  far  as 
France  Roy,  giving  the  compass  bearings  and  latitudes 
of  the  different  places  with  much  detail.  He  supposed 
the  Saguenay  River  to  connect  with  the  Sea  of  Cathay, 
and  in  one  of  the  sketch  maps  of  his  manuscript  Cosmog- 
raphy a  sea  called  the  Sea  of  Saguenay  is  laid  down. 
Some  report  of  the  Indians  concerning  Lake  St.  John,  at 
the  head  of  the  river,  must  have  misled  him.  He  has 
left,  also,  a  description  of  the  coast  from  Cape  Breton 
southward,  which,  while  interesting  as  bearing  upon  the 
fabled  Norumbege,  does  not  contain  any  original  dis- 
coveries. He  was  convinced  that  what  we  now  know  as 
the  Penobscot  connected  with  the  St.  Lawrence  near 
Hochelaga,  an  opinion  held  also  by  Cartier.  This  notion 
accounts  for  some  of  the  distortions  of  Gastaldi's  map  in 
Ramusio's  collection. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  in  detail  upon  the  succeeding 
records  of  voyages  to  Canada,  or  to  New  France,  as  Jean 
Allefonsce  informs  us  the  country  "  for  just  and  proper 
reasons  "  was  commencing  to  be  called.  The  people  of 
Bretagne,  and  particularly  of  St.  Malo,  not  only  con- 
tinued their  voyages  for  fishing  on  the  coasts  of  New- 
foundland and  Acadia,  but  gradually  extended  their  oper- 
ations into  the  Gulf  and  up  the  River  St.  Lawrence, 
not  so  much  for  fishing  as  for  trading  with  the  Indians 
and  buying  furs.  The  long  confusion  of  the  wars  of 
religion  of  Charles  IX.  and  St.  Bartholomew,  of  the 
League  and  Henry  III,,  interfered  very  little  with  the 
steady  conduct  of  this  business.  It  was  free  to  all — a 
period  of  untrammelled  free  trade — in  which,  by  degrees, 
the  cities  of  Normandy,  Rouen,  Dieppe,  Havre,  and  Hon- 
fleur  took  part;  with  more  or  less  jealously  on  the  part 
of  the   citizens  of   St.   Malo    (Malouins,   as  they  were 


220    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

called),  who  claimed  a  prior  right  from  their  townsman, 
Jacques  Cartier.  For  a  long  time  the  trade  was  in  pri- 
vate hands.  The  energies  of  people  of  influence  at  court 
were  absorbed  in  politics  or  war.  The  records  compre- 
hend all  the  northeast  coast  under  the  general  name 
Terrencuve,  and  the  sailors  or  owners  did  not  care  for 
geographical  discoveries.  They  made  no  settlements,  but 
traded  everywhere  along  the  coast,  and  their  relations 
with  the  Indians  were  most  amicable.  The  French  were 
trusted  and  liked  by  the  natives,  and  in  the  records  of  St. 
Malo  we  meet  with  baptisms  of  Indians,  and  of  Indians 
brought  over  to  be  taught  French  and  act  as  interpre- 
ters. As  for  the  fisheries  on  the  coast,  they  were  well 
established  before  Cartier's  voyages  and  rapidly  grew  in 
importance.  The  letters  from  Jacques  Noel,  preserved 
by  Hakluyt,  throw  light  on  this  period.  He,  too,  had 
been  up  the  "  great  river  of  Canada  "  to  Hochelaga,  and 
had  stood  on  the  top  of  Mount  Royal,  He  had  gone  even 
a  little  further,  and  had  passed  the  saults  and  seen  the 
river  widening  into  the  Lake  St.  Louis  beyond,  and  had 
also  heard  from  the  natives  of  the  great  lake  ten  days' 
journey  to  the  west.  In  the  meantime  the  nomenclature 
was  becoming  settled  as  the  name  St.  Lawrence  gradually 
extended  itself  over  the  whole  gulf  and  river.  The 
Spaniards  knew  the  former  as  the  Golfo  Quadrado  (the 
Square  Gulf),  from  its  shape.  La  Grande  Baye  was 
the  French  name  from  Cartier's  time  for  the  upper  part 
near  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle.  Gomara,  in  1555,  wrote  of 
a  great  river  named  San  Lorengo,  which  fell  into  a  square 
gulf,  and  in  1565  Ramusio  reports  the  "  Gran'  Capitano 
Francese  "  as  speaking  fifteen  or  twenty  years  before  of 
a  great  river  called  San  Lorenzo.  But  Cartier's  nephew, 
in  1587,  has  no  name  for  it  but  the  '*  River  of  Canada," 
and  even  Champlain,  in  1603,  calls  it  by  that  name.  In 
1609,  on  Lescarbot's  map,  is  Golfc  du  Canada ;  but  on 
Whytfliet's,  in  1597,  is  Sinus  St.  Laurentii,  so  that  the 
present  names,  St.  Lawrence  River  and  Gulf,  seem  to 
have  been  imposed  from  without. 

In  1588  we  meet  with  the  first  attempt  at  monopoly. 


CARTIER   TO   CHAMPLAIN     221 

Cartier,  as  has  been  shown,  was  a  loser  by  his  voyages  in 
the  King's  service  to  the  extent  of  8630  livres.  Henry 
III.  granted  to  his  nephew,  Jacques  Noel,  and  to  one 
Chaton,  Sieur  de  la  Jaunaye,  who  had  performed  some 
service  as  captain  of  marine,  a  monopoly  of  trade  with 
Canada  for  twelve  years,  including  the  fur  trade  and  gen- 
eral traffic  in  merchandise  of  all  kinds,  but  excluding 
fisheries.  They  obtained,  also,  a  monopoly  of  all  mines 
and  the  right  of  settlement,  of  building  forts,  and  of  taking 
over  a  certain  number  of  convicts.  All  this  was  under  the 
pretext  of  continuing  the  memory  of  the  discoverer  of 
Canada  and  recompensing  him  vicariously,  through  his 
heirs,  for  his  loss.  The  grant  struck  at  the  interests  of  too 
many  citizens  of  St.  Malo  to  pass  unchallenged,  and  in 
consequence  of  urgent  remonstrances  made  the  Par- 
liament of  Bretagne  it  was  revoked  the  same  year. 
Canada  again  escaped  a  colony  of  convicts,  and  the  times 
of  monopoly  were  postponed  for  a  few  years. 

Normandy  was  more  involved  in  the  wars  of  religion 
than  Bretagne,  and  was  the  theatre  of  severe  struggles ; 
but,  whether  Catholic  or  Huguenot,  the  people  required 
food,  and  private  ship-owners  and  merchants  of  Dieppe, 
Honfleur,  and  Havre  shared  the  fisheries  and  the  trade  of 
Terreneuve  with  the  Bretons  in  continually  increasing 
proportion  as  the  times  became  more  settled.  It  was  in 
Normandy  that  the  first  successful  settlements  in  Canada 
were  planned,  and  the  French  Canadians  are  not  of  Bre- 
ton, but  of  Norman  origin. 

Lescarbot  in  his  "  History  of  New  France  "  records  his 
meeting  at  Canso,  in  1607,  with  a  Basque  from  St.  Jean 
de  Luz,  Captain  Savalet,  who  had  made  forty-two  an- 
nual voyages  to  that  place.  This  old  "  Terre-neuvier," 
as  those  who  sailed  to  these  regions  were  called,  em- 
ployed sixteen  men  fishing  and  drying  cod.  He  was  a 
type  of  many  in  those  days  who  frequented  the  northeast 
coasts  of  America.  His  first  voyage  must  have  been  in 
1562,  but,  as  pointed  out  elsewhere,  the  Basques  began 
to  frequent  these  waters  shortly  after  the  voyage  of 
Gomez  in   1525,  and  for  many  years  both  French  and 


222    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Spanish  Basques  in  great  numbers  followed  the  cod 
fisheries.  The  Spanish  Basques  declined  in  number  at 
the  time  of  the  war  between  Spain  and  England,  and 
later,  when  the  French  became  firmly  established,  they 
prohibited  the  Spaniards  from  cod  fishing  on  the  coasts. 
The  Basques  have  left  their  traces  along  the  south  and 
west  shores  of  Newfoundland.  Trepassy,  Placentia, 
Santa  Maria,  Portochova,  Miquelon,  among  many  other 
places,  are  mentioned  in  the  records  of  Basque  towns  in 
northern  Spain.  On  Vallard's  map  (1547)  and  on  Des- 
celiers'  map  (1550)  we  meet  with  the  name  Placentia, 
called  after  the  town  of  that  name  on  the  Rio  Deva  in 
Guipuzcoa.  Tombstones  with  Basque  inscriptions  have 
recently  been  deciphered  at  Placentia  bearing  date  of 
1676  and  later.  These  apparently  mark  the  graves  of 
French  Basques ;  but  they  were  Spanish  Basques  who 
named  the  place.  Port  au  Basque  still  retains  the  name 
telling  of  its  former  days.  It  is  near  Cape  Ray,  and  is 
the  terminus  of  the  Newfoundland  railway  where  pas- 
sengers cross  to  Sydney,  Cape  Breton.  Rogneuse, 
where  Cartier  called  on  his  return  from  Canada  in  1536, 
still  retains  its  name  in  the  English  corruption,  Renews ; 
but  the  word  is  claimed  for  the  Basques  as  derived  from 
Orrougne  or  Urugne,  the  last  post  station  in  France  on 
the  Spanish  frontier. 

In  the  years  immediately  succeeding  their  discovery 
by  Cartier,  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  the  adjoining 
waters,  as  well  as  the  estuary  of  the  river,  became  known 
to  the  Basque  whalers,  both  French  and  Spanish,  for  the 
abundance  of  whales,  walruses,  and  seals  to  be  found 
there.  From  the  central  station  of  the  Magdalen 
Islands,  then  called  the  Ramea  Islands,  the  Basques  fol- 
lowed up  the  river  at  least  as  far  as  the  Saguenay,  for 
their  presence  is  still  witnessed  by  the  names  Echafaud 
aux  Basques  and  Basque  roads  a  little  west  of  its  mouth. 
From  walrus  and  whale  hunters  the  Basques  developed 
into  traders,  and  Dc  Monts  and  Champlain  found  them 
far  up  the  river  trafficking  with  the  Indians  for  furs — very 
successfully,  it  would  seem,  since  thence  arose  the  myth- 


CARTIER  TO   ChAMPLAIN     223 

ical  story  that  the  natives  would  not  trade  in  any  other 
language  than  Basque.  When  Champlain  appeared  in 
these  waters  the  activity  of  the  Basques  was  at  its  height. 
We  find  them  in  1608  resisting  Pont-Grave  at  Tadous- 
sac  and  firing  on  his  ship,  and  in  1623  we  hear  of  a 
Basque  establishment  at  Miscou.  The  men  who  con- 
spired against  Champlain  at  Quebec  in  1608  intended  to 
take  refuge  with  Spaniards  (Basques)  then  at  Tadous- 
sac.  The  paralysing  hand  of  Philip  II.  killed  the  marine 
enterprise  of  the  Spanish  Basques,  and  the  grants  of 
monopoly  to  trading  companies  of  merchants  interfered 
with  the  trading  of  the  French  Basques,  so  that  the 
memory  of  that  interesting  people  survives  only  in 
names  here  and  there  persisting  on  the  coast.  When 
in  more  recent  times  the  Basques  commenced  to  emi- 
grate they  went  to  South  America. 

The  history  of  the  Portuguese  is  the  saddest  story, 
for  their  claims  to  these  waters  were  antecedent  to  all, 
and  in  their  annals  the  captaincy  of  Terra  Nova  was 
continued  in  the  family  of  the  Corte-Reals  down  to  1567. 
In  1580  Philip  II.  seized  the  brilliant  little  kingdom,  and 
for  sixty  years  it  remained  in  bondage.  It  recovered 
its  independence,  but  not  its  maritime  importance.  The 
memory  of  the  Portuguese  has  faded  off  the  coasts  of 
America,  and  only  in  old  maps  and  records,  studied  by 
a  few  scholars,  may  we  learn  of  their  skill  and  daring 
as  sailors  and  their  enterprise  as  fishermen  on  the  north- 
east coast  of  America. 

We  have  seen  how  England  neglected — almost  for- 
got— her  transatlantic  discoveries ;  how  she  was  content 
with  a  very  small  part  of  all  she  might  have  claimed  as 
her  own;  how  she  imperilled  by  non-use  her  presump- 
tive right  of  prior  discovery ;  and  we  will  leave  to  the 
general  historian  the  narrative  of  its  revindication  in 
later  years.  We  have  seen  English  merchants  who  per- 
mitted the  Cabots  to  fall  into  obscurity  willing  to  send 
their  vessels  to  Newfoundland  under  Portuguese  pilots, 
and  entering  into  partnership  with  sailors  of  the  Azores 
to  follow  in  a  hesitating  way  the  road  the  Cabots  had 


224    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

pointed  out.  The  first  notice  of  the  "  new-lands  "  on 
the  Enghsh  statute  book  is  an  Act,  1541-42  (33  Henry 
Vni.  c.  11),  and  it  brings  out  into  strong  hght  the  re- 
missness of  the  EngHsh  sailors  who,  instead  of  going 
themselves  to  fish,  waylaid  off  the  coasts  the  returning 
fleets  of  foreign  fishing  vessels  and  bought  fish  to  supply 
the  English  markets.  A  penalty  of  ten  pounds  was  later 
enacted  for  buying  fish  at  sea  or  in  foreign  ports.  The 
Tudors  had  many  faults,  but  they  were  real  monarchs, 
and  under  their  strong  rule  the  English  marine  was 
formed.  Doubtless  some  English  vessels  made  the  voy- 
age, but  the  King  was  determined  that  all  should  do  so, 
or  give  up  the  profit  of  selling  fish  in  English  ports.  In 
1548-49  an  Act  was  passed  under  Edward  VI.  to  protect 
fishermen  from  certain  exactions  of  the  Admiralty,  and 
the  provisions  of  both  Acts  were  re-enacted  in  1580-81 
under  Elizabeth  with  injunctions  "  touching  certain  poli- 
tick constitutions  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Navy,"  that 
fish  should  be  eaten  on  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays 
throughout  the  year — solely,  however,  as  a  matter  of 
national  policy,  for  Her  Majesty  also  enjoins  that  any 
man  who  teaches  that  eating  fish  has  the  least  connection 
with  the  service  of  God  shall  be  severely  punished. 

This  view  is  confirmed  by  Hakluyt.  He  states  that 
the  fisheries  were  common  and  frequented  by  the  English 
about  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  A.  D. 
1548;  but  the  Bretons  and  Portuguese  were  there  in  great 
numbers  before  that.  Parkhurst,  in  a  letter  to  Hak- 
luyt (1578),  tells  him  that  he  had  made  four  voyages  to 
Newfoundland,  and  that  the  English  ships  had  increased 
in  that  short  time  from  30  to  50 ;  but  he  gives  also  the 
number  of  vessels  of  other  nations.  There  were  100 
sail  of  Spaniards,  30  sail  of  Basque  whalers,  50  sail  of 
Portuguese,  and  150  sail  of  French  and  Bretons.  Park- 
hurst accounts  for  the  comparatively  small  number  of 
English  by  the  trade  carried  on  with  Iceland.  This  is 
even  more  strongly  set  forth  by  Edward  Hayes,  in  1583, 
for,  writing  of  these  coasts,  he  speaks  of  "  the  little  we 
do  yet  actually  possess  therein  and  by  our  ignorance  of 


CARTIER  TO   CHAMPLAIN     225 

the  riches  and  secrets  within  those  lands  which  unto  this 
day  we  know  chiefly  by  the  travel  and  report  of  other 
nations  and  most  of  the  French  who  albeit  they  cannot 
challenge  such  right  and  interest  into  the  said  countries 
as  we,  neither  these  many  years  have  had  opportunities 
nor  means  so  great  to  discover  and  plant  (being  vexed 
with  the  calamities  of  intestine  wars)  as  we  have  had  by 
the  inestimable  benefit  of  our  long  and  happy  peace ; 
yet  have  they  both  ways  performed  more." 

It  was  in  1578,  while  Newfoundland  and  Acadia  were 
a  common  ground  of  enterprise  for  the  nations  of  west- 
ern Europe,  that  Queen  Elizabeth  issued  letters  patent  to 
Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  for  taking  formal  possession  of 
and  colonising  the  new  lands  across  the  ocean.  Cartier 
and  Roberval  had  taken  possession  of  Canada,  but  their 
attempts  at  settlement  had  failed,  and  there  was  not  a 
single  settled  post  of  Europeans  on  the  coast  north  of 
Florida.  Gilbert  was  the  first  Englishman  to  make  an 
attempt  at  colonisation,  after  Cabot's  unfortunate  voyage 
of  1498.  He  sailed  in  1583  and  touched  at  Newfoundland 
on  his  way,  intending  to  go  further  south.  On  arriving 
at  St.  John's  he  found  many  vessels,  Portuguese,  Spanish, 
and  French  as  well  as  English.  He  took  possession  in 
the  Queen's  name,  and  set  up  the  arms  of  England  with 
the  usual  ceremonies.  No  objection  was  made  by  any 
of  the  foreigners,  but  all  assisted  at  the  ceremony  and 
they  contributed  of  their  stores  such  provisions  as  were 
required  for  Sir  Humphrey's  fleet.  The  enterprise  failed ; 
for,  of  the  five  ships,  one  deserted  and  returned  home 
after  being  out  only  a  few  days,  another  was  sent  home 
from  St.  John's,  a  third  was  cast  away  on  Sable  Island. 
Gilbert's  own  vessel  foundered  at  sea  on  the  return  voy- 
age, and  the  fifth  reached  England  with  the  broken  and 
discouraged  remnant. 

Although  the  English  were  in  smaller  number  upon  the 
coast,  their  ships  were  larger,  and  it  is  recorded  by  Hak- 
luyt  that  the  admirals  in  the  harbours  of  the  southern 
ports  of  Newfoundland  were  usually  English.  These 
wild  regions  were  like  the  far  west  mining  camps  in  the 


226    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

years  of  early  discovery.  Law  was  improvised  on  the 
spot,  and  in  these  harbours  of  the  west  a  usage  grew  up 
of  choosing  a  "  fishing  admiral  "  in  each,  who  kept  a 
rough  order  over  all  the  vessels  of  whatever  nation. 
Usually  the  first  captain  to  arrive  was  "  admiral  "  for  the 
season,  but  the  Portuguese  custom  was  that  the  office 
should  be  held  for  a  week  only  and  by  the  captains  in 
orderly  succession.  While  the  English  increased  in  num- 
ber constantly  on  the  coast  of  Newfoundland,  it  was  not 
until  the  last  years  of  the  century  that  they  began  to  enter 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Thus  we  find  Thomas  James 
writing  to  Lord  Burleigh  in  1591  to  tell  him  of  an  island 
(Magdalen)  he  had  heard  of  from  two  smaller  vessels  of 
St.  Malo  which  he  had  captured.  Hakluyt  knew  of  the 
island  and  of  the  immense  number  of  the  walruses  there, 
but  the  Bristol  merchants  evidently  had  heard  of  it  for 
the  first  time.  In  1593  the  knowledge  was  utilised,  for 
two  ships  sailed  from  Falmouth  for  the  "  Island  of 
Ramea  "  (Magdalen)  to  kill  "the  huge  and  mighty  sea 
oxen  with  great  teeth,"  whereof  fifteen  hundred  "  were 
killed  by  one  small  bark  in  the  year  1591."  To  this  Hak- 
luyt appends  a  note  of  information  received  from  Mr. 
George  Drake,  who  made  the  same  voyage  that  year, 
and  adds  "  that  these  are  the  first  for  aught  that  hitherto 
has  come  to  my  knowledge  of  our  own  nation,  that  have 
conducted  English  ships  so  farre  within  this  Gulf  of  St, 
Lawrence  and  have  brought  us  true  relation  of  the  mani- 
fold gaine  which  the  French,  Bretaynes,  Baskes  and 
Biskaines  do  yerely  returne  from  the  sayd  partes ;  while 
wee  this  long  time  have  stood  still  and  have  bene  idle 
lookers  on." 

The  following  year  the  English  got  as  far  as  Anticosti 
in  the  Grace  of  Bristol.  Everywhere  they  met  or  found 
traces  of  the  Basques  of  St.  Jean  de  Luz  whale  hunting 
in  the  Gulf.  Returning  they  called  at  Placentia  Bay,  and 
found  over  sixty  Basque  vessels  there,  of  which  eight 
were  Spanish.  In  1597  we  read  of  the  Hopewell  and 
Chancewel  of  London  sailing  for  "  the  river  of  Canada," 
and  touching  at  the  places  discovered  by  Cartier  sixty 


CARTIER   TO   CHAMPLAIN     227 

years  before.  There  they  had  many  adventures  with 
"  Britaines,  Baskes  and  Biskaines,"  showing  that  the 
Basque  cities  were  then  at  the  height  of  their  activity  in 
the  transatlantic  fisheries. 

When  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  sailed  for  Sable  Island  he 
was  acting  upon  information  received  at  St.  John's  from 
a  Portuguese  sailor  who  had  been  present  when,  thirty 
years  previously,  the  Portuguese  had  placed  upon  it  neat 
cattle  and  swine  to  breed.  He  thought  it  would  be  a 
good  place  from  whence  to  procure  a  supply  of  food  for 
the  settlement  he  intended  to  make  near  by  in  Nova 
Scotia  or  New  England.  To  us,  who  know  the  place  as 
the  "  graveyard  of  the  North  Atlantic,"  the  idea  seems 
absurd,  but  the  sailors  of  these  early  days  seem  to  have 
had  no  dread  of  it.  The  island  is  on  the  earliest  maps, 
under  the  name  of  Santa  Cruz,  and  finds  place  often  in 
grants  and  commissions,  as  in  that  to  Fagundez,  in  1521. 
It  is  now  not  over  twenty  miles  long,  some  three  or  four 
miles  having  been  washed  into  the  ocean  during  the  last 
fifty  years.  It  must  have  been  much  larger  in  early  days, 
for  as  it  is  now  a  bar  of  seventeen  miles  projects  at  each 
end,  and  in  heavy  weather  the  ocean  rages  with  a  roar 
like  thunder  against  the  island  and  its  banks  in  a  continu- 
ous line  of  breakers  extending  for  fifty  miles. 

The  century  closed  with  a  tragedy  on  this  island.  In 
1577  and  1578  Henry  III.  had  granted  commissions  to 
the  Marquis  de  La  Roche,  a  Catholic  nobleman  of  Bre- 
tagne,  as  viceroy  of  the  new  region  across  the  ocean, 
couched  in  the  extravagant  terms  of  the  commission 
formerly  given  to  Roberval.  These  powers,  in  the  con- 
fusion of  the  wars  of  religion,  lay  dormant.  The  wars 
ceased  in  1596,  when  the  leaders  of  the  League  submitted 
to  Henry  IV.  In  1598,  on  January  12,  Henry  IV.  re- 
newed this  commission.  The  date  of  the  voyage  has 
been  disputed,  but  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt 
about  it,  for  the  document  may  be  found  in  Lescarbot. 
The  commission  has  also  been  published  in  Volume  II. 
of  the  "  Edits  et  Ordonnances  "  in  Canada.  La  Roche 
raked  the  prisons  to  make  up  a  crew,  and  with  sixty  con- 


228    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

victs  for  prospective  settlers  he  sailed  across  the  Atlantic. 
He  stopped  at  Sable  Island  under  some  such  notion  as 
influenced  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  for,  in  fact,  he  did  not 
know  where  he  would  finally  place  his  colony.  In  the 
meantime  he  landed  fifty  of  his  convicts  and  his  stores  on 
the  island,  and  sailed  in  a  small  vessel  to  reconnoitre  the 
coast,  intending-  to  return  for  them  when  he  had  decided 
on  a  suitable  place.  But  a  very  heavy  storm  set  in  and 
blew  his  little  ship  back  to  France.  The  convicts  thus 
abandoned  did  not  lack  for  food,  for  they  had  the  cattle 
left  there  by  the  Portuguese ;  marine  animals,  such  as 
seals  and  walruses,  frequented  the  shores,  and  fish  were 
abundant,  as  were  also  ducks  and  other  sea  fowl ;  but  the 
evil  passions  of  such  a  crew  made  a  pandemonium  of 
hatred  and  murder.  For  five  years  it  lasted,  until  in 
1603  the  matter  came  to  the  ears  of  the  King,  and  he 
gave  order  to  send  a  skilful  Norman  pilot,  Chefd'otel,  to 
rescue  them.  Eleven  shaggy  men,  clothed  in  sealskins, 
and  with  long-,  .untrimmed  beards,  were  presented  to  the 
King — the  sole  surviviors  of  the  fifty  who  had  been  left. 
Human  cupidity  could  steal  even  from  these  wretches,  for 
the  pilot  robbed  them  of  the  furs  they  had  collected  and 
had  to  be  forced  by  law  to  make  restitution.  Canada 
and  Acadia  again  escaped  being  made  convict  settle- 
ments, and  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  left  the 
northeast  coast  of  the  American  continent  clear  of  Euro- 
pean settlers  of  every  kind.  From  St.  Augustine,  in 
Florida,  to  the  arctic  circle  every  attempt  had  happily 
failed.  A  remark  of  Lescarbot  has  set  many  writers 
astray.  He  states  that  when  La  Roche  landed  in  France, 
on  his  return,  he  was  thrown  into  prison  by  the  Duke  de 
Mercoeur.  That  could  not  have  been  the  case,  for  the 
leader  of  the  League  had  then  submitted,  and  France  was 
at  last  united  and  tranquil  under  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 
That  La  Roche  should  have  left  these  men  so  long  was 
probably  due  to  want  of  means,  for  his  losses  ruined  him, 
and  he  died  of  grief  not  long  after.  The  interpolation  of 
the  Duke  de  Mercoeur  has  led  to  much  controversy.  It 
is,  however,  recorded  that  the  Marquis  de  La  Roche  made 


CARTIER   TO    CHAMPLAIN      229 

an  abortive  attempt  previously, for  Hakluyt,  in  his  "West- 
ern Planting,"  twice  speaks  of  an  expedition  under  him 
in  1584,  with  three  hundred  men,  which  "  was  luckily 
overthrown,  in  respect  of  us,  by  reason  that  his  great  ship 
was  thrown  away  on  the  Travers  of  Burwage  (Brou- 
age)."  An  imprisonment  by  the  Duke  de  Mercoeur,  or 
some  other  political  occurrence  of  that  stormy  period  (for 
La  Roche  was  an  active  partisan  of  Catharine  de  Medici), 
may  then  have  intervened  to  prevent  a  renewal  of  that  at- 
tempt; but  the  expedition  now  in  question  was  in  1598. 
There  is  no  room  for  doubt,  since  the  charters  of  two  ves- 
sels which  sailed  in  it  survive.  They  were  dated  on  the 
15th  and  1 6th  of  March  of  that  year,  and  were  signed  by 
La  Roche  at  Honfleur.  With  the  ruin  of  La  Roche  and 
the  collapse  of  his  attempt  at  colonisation  the  sixteenth 
century  closes.  The  springs  of  the  history  of  Acadia  and 
Canada  were  freed  from  the  suspicion  even  of  moral  con- 
tamination when  the  eleven  convicts  of  Sable  Island  were 
carried  back  to  France. 

A  legend  has  grown  up  to  brighten  the  gloom  of  this 
island  of  terror.  The  fishermen  tell  of  a  Franciscan 
monk  who  shared  the  horrors  of  exile  with  the  convicts, 
whom  he  incessantly,  but  vainly,  strove  to  influence  for 
good.  When  the  ship  came  to  carry  away  the  survivors 
he  refused  to  leave  the  island.  He  was  sick  unto  death, 
and  in  a  few  hours  his  heart-break  would  be  over  and  the 
wind  would  bury  him  in  the  ever-shifting  sand.  So  they 
left  him.  But  the  story  goes  on  to  relate  that  he 
recovered  and  lived  for  many  years,  passing  the  time  not 
occupied  in  tending  his  little  garden,  in  prayer  and  medi- 
tation, or  in  collecting  shell  fish  for  his  daily  food.  The 
ocean  threw  upon  the  island  shipwrecked  sailors  to  whose 
spiritual  needs  he  ministered,  and  fishermen  from  the 
neighbouring  coasts  often  visited  him.  These  last  brought 
him  presents  of  the  elements  necessary  for  celebration  of 
the  mass,  and  he  requited  them  with  advice  and  consola- 
tion. The  spirit  of  the  holy  monk  yet  hovers  round  the 
scene  of  his  trial  and  victory ;  for  the  fishermen  sometimes 
see  him  still  in  fair  weather  pacing  the  shore  or  outlined 


230    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

aloft  against  the  blue  sky.  At  other  times  they  see  his 
figure  bright  against  the  black  wall  of  storm  cloud,  his 
arms  stretched  out  as  at  the  foot  of  the  altar,  in  suppli- 
cation for  the  sailors  in  peril  of  impending  wreck,  or 
extended  in  blessing  or  absolution  as  some  vessel  on  the 
crest  of  the  breaking  surf  is  dashed  against  the  shore. 


CHAPTER    XV 

CHAMPLAIN 

WITH  the  opening  years  of  the  seventeenth 
century  came  a  turning  point  in  the  history 
of  New  France.  The  idea  began  to  impress 
itself  strongly  upon  the  minds  of  far-seeing 
and  enterprising  Frenchmen  that  the  new  regions  ex- 
ploited only  by  fishermen  and  traders  might  be  useful 
as  colonies,  and  that  it  might  be  advantageous  to 
establish  real  extensions  of  France  there ;  not  penal 
settlements  or  dumping  grounds  for  criminals,  but 
settlements  of  honest,  sturdy  Frenchmen  who  would 
loyally  serve  France  in  the  New  World  and  permanently 
occupy  the  road  to  Cathay  and  the  East.  Practical 
statesmen  were  against  it.  The  Duke  de  Sully  has  left 
it  on  record  "  that  to  make  plantation  in  Canada  was 
absolutely  contrary  to  his  opinion,"  and  he  opposed 
every  attempt  in  that  direction,  laying  down  with  con- 
fidence the  maxim  that  no  advantages  were  to  be  derived 
from  America  north  of  40°  lat.  That  is  to  say,  in  the 
language  of  our  day,  there  was  nothing  of  value  north  of 
Philadelphia.  Practical  statesmanship  must  look  for  its 
reward  in  its  own  generation.  It  was  the  policy  of  prac- 
tical statesmen  which  blocked  the  development  of  New- 
foundland and  forbade  in  England's  oldest  colony,  until 
after  A.  D.  1820,  the  inclosure  and  cultivation  of  land 
and  the  building  or  repairing  of  houses  without  the 
license  of  the  royal  governor. 

For  many  years  Tadoussac  had  been  a  rendezvous  for 
the  fur  trade  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  No  settlement  or 
permanent  post  had  been  founded,  but  there  the  Indians 
in  spring  and  early  summer  used  to  meet  the  vessels 
of  the  traders.     Frangois  Grave,  Sieur  du  Pont  (whose 

231 


232    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

name  continually  recurs  in  Canadian  history  as  Pont- 
Grave,  Pontgrave  or  Dupont-Grave),  an  adventurous 
sailor  merchant  originally  of  St.  Malo,  seeing  that  the 
competition  of  private  traders  rendered  a  promising  busi- 
ness unprofitable,  sought  the  co-operation  of  someone 
with  influence  at  court  sufficient  to  obtain  a  monopoly  of 
the  trade  with  Canada.  He  applied  to  Pierre  de  Chauvin, 
a  shipowner  of  Honfleur  who  had  been  a  distinguished 
captain  in  the  service  of  Henry  IV.  in  the  wars  of  the 
League,  and  Chauvin  procured  a  commission  as  Lieu- 
tenant of  the  King  in  Canada,  with  exclusive  privilege 
of  trade  under  the  stipulation  that  he  would  take  out  peo- 
ple to  settle  and  defend  the  country.  Chauvin  was  not  a 
courtier,  but  a  man  of  abundant  energy  and  capacity.  In 
the  year  1600  he  himself  sailed  for  Tadoussac,  with  Pont- 
Grave  as  his  lieutenant  in  charge  of  another  vessel. 
It  was  a  memorable  voyage,  for  the  Sieur  de  Monts 
went  as  passenger  to  see  the  country.  It  was  the  first 
voyage  in  what  M.  Suite  has  happily  called  "  the  Cana- 
dian movement,"  and  it  was  taken  by  three  men,  of 
whom  two  were  Huguenots,  for  the  Edict  of  Nantes  had 
opened  to  all  Frenchmen,  without  distinction  of  religion, 
a  career  in  the  service  of  their  common  country.  Pont- 
Grave  advised  settlement  at  Three  Rivers,  for  he  had 
made  several  voyages  to  Canada  and  knew  the  place,  but 
Chauvin  would  go  no  further  than  Tadoussac.  and  there, 
on  a  site  overlooking  the  roadstead,  he  built  a  house.  The 
voyage  was  really  a  fur-trading  venture,  but  sixteen  men 
were  left  to  winter  at  Tadoussac,  so  that  it  was  a  colour- 
able commencement  of  settlement.  But  it  did  not 
succeed,  for  Tadoussac  is  a  bleak,  exposed  place,  and 
insufficient  precaution  had  been  taken  against  the  winter. 
The  men  were  not  under  control,  and  the  provisions 
were  wasted.  Some  of  the  men  died,  and  the  rest  took 
refuge  with  the  Indians  and  anxiously  awaited  the  spring 
and  the  return  of  the  ships.  Chauvin  made  a  second 
voyage  in  1602,  and  in  1603,  while  preparing  for  a  third, 
he  died. 

Pont-Grave  was  a  good  man  of  business  and  did  not 


CHAMPLAIN  233 

allow  his  project  to  drop.  Aymar  de  Chastes,  governor 
of  Dieppe,  a  Catholic  nobleman  who  had  done  notable 
service  for  Henry  IV.  in  the  recent  wars,  obtained  a 
similar  commission  and  became  the  head  of  the  enterprise. 
Pont-Grave  was  the  ruling  spirit,  but  leading  merchants 
of  St.  Malo,  Rouen,  and  Rochelle  had  an  interest  in  the 
profits.  De  Chastes  intended  to  go  out  to  Canada  in 
person,  but  in  the  meantime  an  expedition  was  sent 
out  in  1603.  Pont-Grave  had  charge  of  the  business 
of  trading,  and  Champlain — the  real  founder  and  father 
of  Canada — made  his  first  appearance  in  the  country  in 
charge  of  the  projected  explorations  and  discoveries. 
The  influence  of  Pont-Grave  upon  the  history  of  Canada 
was  slight,  but  he  and  his  family  were  interested  for 
generations  in  the  trade  of  the  country,  and  long  after- 
wards he  brought  out  his  little  grandchild,  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years,  to  see  the  Indians  in  their  own  homes  and 
early  learn  to  bear  privation  and  face  danger. 

Samuel  de  Champlain  was  bom  about  the  year  1567 
at  Brouage,  now  a  small  town  on  the  Bay  of  Biscay 
seven  miles  south  of  Rochefort,  but  then  a  port  of  consid- 
erable trade,  held  as  a  fortified  city  during  the  wars  of 
the  League.  He  came  of  bourgeois  stock,  but  the  offices 
and  positions  he  held  would  of  themselves  raise  him  to 
the  class  of  nobles.  Those  who  dispute  his  right  to  the 
particle  de  are  more  fastidious  than  King  Louis  XIII. , 
who  addressed  his  commission,  dated  April  27,  1628,  to 
"  nostre  cher  et  bien  anic  le  sieur  de  Champlain,"  and 
signed  it  with  his  own  hand.  Champlain's  father  was  a 
sailor  by  profession  and  his  uncle  held  the  position  of 
pilot-major  in  the  service  of  Spain.  From  boyhood  he 
had  a  passion  for  the  sea,  and  during  all  his  life  he  held 
navigation  to  be  the  most  useful  and  excellent  of  the  arts. 
His  first  service,  was,  however,  as  a  soldier  for  Henry  IV., 
and  at  the  close  of  the  war  he  held  the  rank  of  quarter- 
master. Brouage  was  in  the  centre  of  a  Protestant  dis- 
trict, but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  family  of 
Champlain  was  Huguenot.  He  himself  was  an  unwaver- 
ing Catholic,  and  in  fighting  for  Henry  IV.  he  did  as  very 


234    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

many  other  Catholics  were  doing — he  fought  for  France 
against  a  conspiracy  hatched  in  Spain  to  supplant  the 
legitimate  line  of  monarchs  by  the  offspring  of  a  foreign 
adventurer,  and  to  graft  Spanish  narrowness  and  bigotry 
upon  the  broader  and  more  tolerant  character  of  the 
French  people.  At  the  close  of  the  war  the  town  of 
Blavet,  in  Bretagne,  where  Champlain  was  serving,  was 
occupied  by  a  Spanish  garrison,  and  Champlain's  uncle 
was  commissioned  by  the  King  of  Spain  to  carry  back 
the  soldiers  to  Spain.  Young  Champlain  went  with  his 
relative,  and  when  in  Spain  managed  so  well  that  he 
was  permitted  to  visit  the  West  Indies  as  captain  of  a 
ship  chartered  for  the  service  of  the  King.  It  was  a 
rare  chance,  as  foreigners  were  jealously  excluded  from 
the  Spanish  colonies.  Champlain  availed  himself  of  it  to 
the  fullest  extent.  He  was  absent  over  two  years  and  vis- 
ited not  only  the  chief  islands,  but  the  city  and  territory 
of  Mexico.  It  is  characteristic  of  his  quick  eye  and  far- 
sighted  intelligence  that  he  pointed  out  the  possibility  of 
a  canal  at  Panama,  and  that,  by  making  use  of  a  small 
river  falling  in  near  Porto  Bello,  there  would  be  only 
four  leagues  of  canal  to  cut.  On  his  return  he  presented 
to  Henry  IV.  a  full  report  upon  these  regions,  illustrated 
by  many  plans  and  drawings  which,  though  not  very 
artistic,  are  sufficient.  Henry  IV.  was  pleased  with  the 
work,  and  gave  the  author  a  pension  and  the  title  of 
Geographer  to  the  King.  While  disengaged  he  happened 
to  visit  M.  de  Chastes  at  Dieppe,  who  was  then  prepar- 
ing an  expedition  to  Canada  under  the  command  of 
Pont-Grave  and  meditated  an  exploration  of  the  country 
to  find  a  better  site  for  a  settlement  than  Tadoussac. 
For  such  a  task  Champlain  was  of  all  men  most  fitted, 
and,  the  King's  assent  to  his  absence  being  obtained, 
Champlain  sailed  from  Honfleur  on  March  15,  1603,  in  a 
ship  happily  named  La  Bonne-Renommcc.  This  voy- 
age was  the  commencement  of  a  life-long  companion- 
ship and  sincere  friendship  between  him  and  Pont- 
Grave.  The  men  were  very  different.  Pont-Grave  was 
a  merchant,  a  loyal  friend,  and  a  loyal  Frenchman,  but 


^    5 
p,  > 

c5  _ 


u 


CHAMPLAIN  235 

busied  with  trade  and  cognate  matters;  and  Champlain, 
while  practical  and  efficient  in  his  daily  duties,  aimed 
at  establishing  a  settled  industrial  colony  which  should 
hold  for  France  the  gateway  of  the  golden  East.  With 
unflagging  perseverance  and  imperturbable  patience  he 
devoted  his  whole  life  to  this  patriotic  task — the  most 
single-hearted  and  single-eyed  servant  France  ever 
possessed. 

The  vessel  arrived  at  Tadoussac  on  May  24.  They 
had  brought  with  them  two  Indians,  who  had  been  taken 
to  France  the  preceding  year  by  Pont-Grave  to  make  a 
report  to  their  countrymen  concerning  the  wonders  of 
the  world  across  the  sea.  A  number  of  Indians  were 
encamped  on  the  western  point  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Saguenay,  including  bands  from  the  Etchemins  of  New 
Brunswick,  the  Algonquins  from  the  Ottawa,  and  the 
Montagnais  of  the  Saguenay.  They  had  been  on  an  ex- 
pedition against  the  Iroquois,  and  had  brought  back  a 
hundred  scalps,  over  which  they  were  making  great  re- 
joicings. A  formal  assembly  was  held,  at  which  the  two 
Indians  made  an  address,  and  told  of  the  power  and 
greatness  of  the  French  people ;  and,  it  should  be  espec- 
ially noted,  they  told  their  people  of  the  good  reception 
accorded  them  by  the  King,  and  that  he  had  promised  to 
be  their  ally,  and  either  to  make  peace,  or  to  send  men  to 
assist  them  against  their  enemies,  the  Iroquois.  Here, 
therefore,  before  Champlain  had  set  foot  in  the  country, 
a  definite  policy  had  been  decided  upon  and  announced, 
which  he  has  been  blamed  by  some  for  carrying  out. 
With  one  voice  the  assembled  savages  cried  out.  Ho!  Ho! 
Ho!  in  their  satisfaction  that  they  were  to  have  the  sup- 
port of  so  great  an  ally. 

Champlain,  after  the  formal  assemblies  and  festivities  ^ 
of  the  Indians  were  got  through,  lost  no  time  in  commenc- 
ing his  explorations.  He  ascended  the  Saguenay  about 
sixty-three  miles,  to  a  point  a  little  beyond  Chicoutimi, 
where  the  river  becomes  impassable  from  rapids  and 
rocks.  He  questioned  the  Indians  very  closely,  and 
gathered  from  them  a  very  fair  idea  of  the  upper  coun- 


236    THE  ST.   LAWRENCE  BASIN 

try.  They  told  him  of  the  lower  rapids,  of  the  stretch  of 
quiet  water  on  the  upper  river,  of  the  rapids  of  the 
Dechar^e,  of  Lake  St.  John,  of  the  three  large  rivers 
which  fall  into  it,  of  the  height  of  land  and  the  savages 
from  the  north  who  lived  in  sight  of  a  sea  which  was 
salt.  Champlain  concluded  correctly  that  it  was  a  gulf 
of  the  ocean  stretching  in  from  the  north,  and  seven 
years  later  it  was  discovered  so  to  be  by  Henry  Hudson. 

On  June  i8  Champlain,  accompanied  by  Pont-Grave, 
started  for  the  Sault.  Cartier's  name,  "  Hochelega," 
had  passed  away,  and  until  the  city  of  Montreal  was 
founded  the  place  was  known  from  the  rapids  which 
blocked  navigation,  as  "  The  Sault."  He  noted  on  the 
way  the  falls  of  Montmorenci,  and  named  them  after  the 
Seigneur  de  Montmorenci,  admiral  of  France,  to  whom 
he  dedicated  the  narrative  of  his  voyage.  There  was  no 
settlement  of  any  kind  at  Quebec.  The  name  Stadacona 
had  disappeared  with  the  Huron-Iroquois  people  who 
were  there  in  Cartier's  time,  and  now  for  the  first  time 
the  name  appears  as  Quebec, — the  strait  or  narrows, — 
because  the  river  is  narrower  there  than  anywhere  else  in 
its  whole  course.  As  Detroit  in  the  west  is  the  French 
word  for  the  narrows  on  the  upper  river,  so  Quebec  is 
the  Algonquin  word  for  the  narrows  on  the  lower  river. 
Detroit  and  Quebec  are  synonyms,  and  it  is  trifling  with 
history  to  drag  the  Portuguese  or  their  discoveries  in 
Africa  into  an  etymology  so  obvious. 

Champlain  left  Quebec  on  the  23d,  and  went  as  far  as 
Ste.  Croix — the  Ochelay  of  Cartier — "  a  low  point  ris- 
ing from  both  sides."  This  cannot  have  been  other 
than  "  the  Platon,"  or  Pointe  au  Platon.  The  place  now 
called  Ste.  Croix  is  a  village  six  miles  lower  down,  and 
both  are  on  the  south  shore.  On  the  north  shore,  oppo- 
site the  village  of  Ste.  Croix,  the  Jacques  Cartier  River 
falls  in.  The  St.  Lawrence  is  very  nearly  three  miles 
wide  at  that  point.  Here  Champlain,  no  doubt  taking 
his  information  from  Pont-Grave,  observes  that  it  was 
the  limit  of  Cartier's  explorations.  It  was  his  first  visit 
to   Canada,    and   he   had   not    read   Cartier's   narrative. 


....«^  ..„f..._ 


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jj  U  _2    a 


CHAMPLAIN  237 

Later,  in  1608,  when  he  founded  Quebec  and  began  to 
explore  the  upper  country,  he  examined  the  question  at 
length,  and  recorded  his  conviction  that  Cartier's  Ste. 
Croix  was  the  St.  Charles  River,  at  Quebec.  That  is  the 
received  opinion  now,  but  this  passage  has  led  many 
writers  astray,  and  it  is  a  warning  against  what  is  called 
"  immemorial  tradition,"  for  the  erroneous  notion  must 
have  existed  as  early  as  1600.  Champlain  observed  the 
advantages  of  Three  Rivers  as  a  site  for  a  trading  post, 
and  learned  from  the  Indians  that  the  head-waters  of  the 
rivers  St.  Maurice  and  Saguenay  were  close  together. 
These  wild  people  are  of  necessity  good  geographers, 
and  Champlain,  all  his  life,  drew  incessantly  from  their 
information.  After  passing  Lake  St.  Peter,  which  he 
named,  he  attempted  to  ascend  the  Riviere  des  Iroquois 
"(the  Richelieu),  but  finding  the  current  too  strong 
returned  after  reaching  St.  Ours,  and  passed  on  to  the 
Sault  (Montreal). 

The  localities  around  the  present  city  of  Montreal  are 
described  with  much  detail  in  his  first  volume.  He  was 
evidently  struck  by  the  natural  advantages  of  the  place, 
and,  the  rapids  being  impassable,  he  went  on  foot  to  the 
lake  (St.  Louis)  above.  The  Indians  told  him  of  the 
upper  river  and  its  rapids  and  expansions,  and  of  the 
great  lake  (Ontario),  and  then  of  a  fall  "  somewhat  high, 
and  with  but  little  water."  We  must  suspect  here  a  mis- 
understanding in  interpretation,  for  that  was  the  notion 
Champlain  f^ot  of  Niagara.  After  that  came  another 
great  lake,  and  then  a  strait  (Detroit),  which  led  into  a 
very  large  lake  (Huron),  so  large  that  the  Indians  would 
not  venture  upon  it.  Reflecting  upon  what  he  had  seen, 
and  what  he  had  gathered  from  the  Indians,  Champlain 
thought  that  this  distant  water  was  the  "  South  Sea,"  but 
with  the  good  judgment  natural  to  his  character  he 
observes  that,  before  forming  a  conclusion,  more  evidence 
is  necessary.  He  sought  it  from  other  Indians  on  his 
way  back,  but  although  he  got  more  information  as  to 
the  rivers  falling  into  the  lakes,  and  concerning  the  lakes 
(Champlain   and   George)    to  the   south,  and  the   river 


238    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

(Hudson)  flowing  to  "  Florida,"  he  could  not  learn  with 
any  certainty  that  any  of  the  water  flowed  westward  or 
that  anywhere  it  was  salt. 

Immediately  after  his  return  to  Tadoussac  Champlain 
sailed  to  explore  the  lower  river,  and  visited  Gaspe  and 
Perce.  At  Perce  he  met  the  Sieur  Prevert  of  St.  Malo, 
who  had  gone  in  another  vessel,  which  stopped  at  Gaspe, 
to  discover  a  mine  in  Acadia.  The  locality  he  was  in 
search  of  was  Cape  d'Or,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Basin  of 
Mines  on  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  could  only  be  reached 
overland.  How  he  had  heard  of  it  does  not  appear,  but 
all  were  confident  about  it,  and,  indeed,  the  cape  derives 
its  name  from  small  quantities  of  native  copper  found 
there.  This  Sieur  Prevert  was  a  romancer,  for  he  said 
that  he  had  been  to  the  mine,  whereas  he  had  only  per- 
suaded some  Indians  to  go  there,  as  Champlain  found  out 
later.  He  reported  concerning  a  formidable  tribe  of 
savages — the  Armouchiquois — of  strange  form,  for  their 
heads  and  bodies  were  small  and  their  arms  and  thighs 
as  thin  as  skeletons.  Their  legs  were  of  the  same  size  all 
the  way  down,  but  so  long  that  when  they  squatted  on 
their  heels  their  knees  were  half  a  foot  above  their  heads. 
Very  agile  savages  they  were,  and  the  Sieur  Prevert  did 
not  trust  himself  among  them.  He  reported  a  super- 
natural danger,  even  more  serious,  the  Gougou — a  female 
monster  dwelling  at  Miscou  head,  where  Chaleur  Bay 
turns  on  the  New  Brunswick  side.  The  masts  of  a  large 
ship  did  not  reach  to  the  waist  of  this  creature,  and  it 
caught  and  devoured  many  savages,  putting  into  its 
enormous  pocket  any  surplus  of  human  beings  it  had  no 
immediate  need  for.  Some  savages  who  had  managed 
to  escape  said  that  the  pocket  was  large  enough  to  hold  a 
ship.  The  Sieur  Prevert  naturally  did  not  trust  his  per- 
son near  enough  to  the  Gougou  to  run  any  risk  of  being 
pocketed,  but  he  went  so  near  that  he  and  all  his  crew 
heard  the  horrible  noises  and  strange  hissings  made  by 
the  monster.  Evidence  so  unanimous,  confirmed  as  it 
was  by  the  testimony  of  the  Indians,  led  Champlain  to 
believe  that  the  Gougou  was  some  devil  which  tormented 


CHAMPLAIN  239 

the  poor  pagan  Indians.  Miscou  Island  was  a  good  posi- 
tion, for  a  creature  of  that  size  could  reach  a  long  way 
over  the  bay.  This,  concludes  Champlain,  "  is  what  I 
have  learned  about  the  Gougou." 

On  August  24  they  set  sail  from  Gaspe  for  France,  the 
Sieur  Prevert's  vessel  in  company.  The  Montagnais  sent 
a  son  of  one  of  their  chiefs  with  Pont-Grave,  and  they, 
kindly  acceding  to  his  request,  also  threw  in  an  Iroquois 
woman  whom  they  had  intended  to  eat.  The  Sieur  Pre- 
vert  took  home  in  his  ship  four  savages,  and  as  one  was 
from  the  coast  of  "  La  Cadie  "  the  citizens  of  St.  Malo 
doubtless  heard  from  the  mouths  of  numerous  witnesses 
many  other  particulars  concerning  the  Gougou  and  the 
long-legged  Armouchiquois.  Champlain  describes  the 
coast  of  the  south  and  west  shore  of  the  Gulf,  not  from 
his  own  knowledge,  but  from  hearsay.  He  heard  of  Tre- 
gate  (Tracadie)  and  Misamichy  (Miramichi),  and  of  a 
strait  (Gut  of  Canso)  separating  the  island  upon  which  is 
Cape  Breton  from  the  mainland.  He  calls  the  island  the 
Island  of  St.  Lawrence.  He  speaks  of  many  rivers  fall- 
ing in  on  the  New  Brunswick  shore,  and  of  the  Island  of 
St.  John  (Prince  Edward  Island),  but  the  island  had  not 
then  got  into  the  maps.  In  the  two  maps  with  the  voyage 
of  161 1  this  island  is  not  shown,  and  in  the  map  drawn 
in  1612  it  is  given  only  as  a  little  round  island.  Along 
the  shore  of  the  adjoining  mainland  of  Nova  Scotia  is  a 
notice  that  the  "  author  was  not  acquainted  with  the 
coast."  In  Lescarbot's  map  of  1608  there  is  no  sign  of 
Prince  Edward  Island,  so  that  up  to  this  time  it  was  not 
distinguished  from  the  mainland  either  in  the  mind  of 
Champlain,  who  sailed  into  the  gulf  northward  of  it,  or  in 
the  mind  of  Lescarbot,  who  was  as  near  to  it  as  Canso  on 
the  south.  Whatever  knowledge  existed  of  it  could  not 
have  been  recorded  on  any  map  accessible  to  either  up  to 
that  time. 

During  the  absence  of  the  expedition  De  Chastes  died, 
and  another  head  had  to  be  found  for  the  association. 
Champlain,  who  was  always  welcome  at  court,  made  his 


240    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

report  to  Henry  IV.,  and  presented  his  maps.  He  pre- 
pared an  account  of  what  he  had  seen  and  heard  in 
Canada,  which  was  pubhshed  the  same  year.  The  King 
recognised  the  importance  of  settHng  a  permanent  colony 
in  the  New  World,  and  of  securing  by  actual  occupation 
the  prescriptive  rights  which  France  had  obtained.  But 
the  royal  exchequer  was  low,  and,  above  all,  the  influence 
of  the  Superintendent  of  Finance,  the  Duke  de  Sully,  was 
hostile.  It  was  pointed  out  that  there  was  no  need  to 
draw  upon  the  treasury.  The  enterprise  would  be  self- 
supporting  if  the  King  would  grant  to  the  company  a 
monopoly  of  the  trade  with  Canada  frittered  away  in  com- 
petition among  a  few  merchants  of  St.  Malo  and  Dieppe. 
The  fisheries  were  not  to  be  included,  but  would  still  be 
open  to  all.  The  trade  in  furs  would  pay  for  the  expense 
of  the  projected  and  much  desired  colony. 

The  project  was  reasonable.  Sully  was  not  called  upon 
for  money,  and  there  was  no  reason  to  consider  the  trad- 
ers, who  for  many  years  had  exploited  these  regions 
beyond  sea  without  one  thought  for  France,  or  for  any- 
thing beyond  their  own  profit.  The  place  of  De  Chastes 
w^as  taken  by  Pierre  du  Guast,  Sieur  de  Monts,  a  native  of 
Champlain's  own  province,  Saintonge.  He  was  a  Hugue- 
not who  had  done  good  service  for  the  King  in  the  late 
wars,  and  had  strong  influence  at  court.  To  him  Henry 
gave  the  required  privilege ;  he  was  commissioned  as 
Lieutenant  Governor  for  the  King,  and  notices  were  forth- 
with posted  in  the  maritime  cities  of  France  warning  all 
against  infringing  on  the  rights  of  the  company.  Imme- 
diately an  outcry  arose  from  the  little  knots  of  merchants 
in  St  Malo,  Dieppe,  Honfleur,  and  Rouen  who  had  not 
joined  the  association,  but  had  been  sending  vessels  out 
to  the  coast,  and  unhampered  by  any  obligations  had  been 
exploiting  the  trade  with  a  single  eye  to  their  own  inter- 
est. The  parliament  of  Normandy  refused  twice  to  reg- 
ister the  letters  patent,  and  it  required  a  special  letter  of 
the  King  to  overcome  its  resistance.  The  first  reply  of 
the  King  states  that  he  had  given  orders  that  clergymen, 


CHAMPLAIN  241 

of  sound  belief  and  good  reputation,  should  be  sent  out, 
and  he  endeavoured  in  that  way  to  remove  the  newborn 
anxiety  of  the  merchants  lest  the  eternal  welfare  of  the 
Indians  should  be  imperilled  by  the  "  pretended  reformed 
religion  of  De  Monts."  Seeing  that,  in  the  fifty  preced- 
ing years  of  "  free  trade,"  no  sign  of  anxiety  for  the 
souls  of  the  Indians  had  ever  been  manifested,  it  was 
transparent  hypocrisy  to  put  it  forth  then  as  the  chief 
ground  for  opposition.  Passing  to  the  real  reason,  the 
King  points  out  that  the  object  of  the  enterprise  is  the 
public  interest  of  France,  of  which  the  royal  council  is 
the  best  judge;  that  the  association  of  De  Monts  is,  and 
was,  open  to  all  who  might  desire  to  enter  it,  and  it  was 
inadvisable  to  allow  an  irresponsible  and  irregular  trade 
to  thwart  so  laudable  an  undertaking.  This  reply  of  the 
King  is  the  key  to  all  the  early  obstacles  to  the  settle- 
ment of  Canada. 

De  Monts  was  a  man  of  singular  energy  and  enterprise, 
and  the  fact  of  his  having  made  as  a  pleasure  trip  a  visit 
to  Canada  with  Pont-Grave  in  1603  shows  the  breadth 
of  his  views,  and  the  interest  he  had  taken  in  the  country. 
What  he  had  seen  at  Tadoussac  had  prejudiced  him 
against  Canada  as  being  too  far  north,  and,  indeed,  as 
the  object  aimed  at  was  to  found  a  self-supporting  agri- 
cultural colony,  Tadoussac  was  utterly  unsuitable.  He 
decided  upon  settling  somewhere  in  Acadia  or  in  the 
mythical  region  of  Norumbegue,  corresponding  vaguely 
to  the  present  New  England. 

On  April  7,  1604,  De  Monts  sailed  from  Havre,  taking 
with  him  some  gentlemen,  including  Champlain,  and  one 
hundred  and  twenty  artisans.  It  was  a  colony  he  was 
leading  out  in  good  faith.  Pont-Grave  followed  on  the 
loth  with  supplies,  and  the  rendezvous  was  fixed  at 
Canso.  On  the  voyage  De  Monts  changed  his  mind  and 
steered  for  Port  au  Mouton,  still  called  Port  Mouton  in 
the  maps  of  Nova  Scotia.  After  narrowly  escaping  ship- 
wreck on  Sable  Island,  they  sighted  Cap  de  la  Heve,  still 
known  by  the  same  name,  and  they  touched  at  Port  Ros- 


242    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

signol  (Liverpool).  At  Port  Mouton  they  landed  and 
encamped.  A  small  pinnace  was  sent  to  Canso  to  meet 
'Pont-Grave,  and  Champlain  was  sent  in  the  opposite 
direction  to  explore  for  good  harbours  for  the  ships.  He 
examined  the  southwest  coast  of  Nova  Scotia  round  as 
far  as  the  head  of  St.  Mary's  Bay.  Many  of  his  names 
still  survive  on  the  maps, — as  Cape  Negro,  Cape  Sable, 
Cape  Fourchu,  St.  Mary's  Bay,  Long  Island, — while 
others,  such  as  Shag  Island  (Isle  au  Cormorans),  are 
translated. 

Champlain  returned  safely  to  Port  Mouton,  much  to  De 
Monts'  relief.  Pont-Grave  had  joined  in  the  meantime, 
and,  as  Lescarbot  puts  it  in  his  bright  style,  "  all  of  New 
France  being  assembled  in  two  vessels,"  they  weighed 
anchor  and  sailed  round  Cape  Sable  into  the  great  bay, 
named  by  De  Monts  la  Baye  Frangaise  (French  Bay),  but 
which  the  Portuguese  knew  long  before  as  Baia  Fundo 
(the  Deep  Bay),  and  is  now  called  the  Bay  of  Fundy. 
After  examining  St.  Mary's  Bay  they  sailed  out  into  the 
main  bay  by  what  is  still  known  as  the  Petite  Passage, 
and  followed  along  the  coast  until,  to  quote  Champlain, 
they  found  "  one  of  the  finest  harbours  I  had  seen  along 
the  coasts,  in  which  two  thousand  vessels  might  lie  in 
safety."  It  was  Annapolis  basin,  and  Champlain's  en- 
thusiasm for  the  place  was  well  founded.  It  was  in  his 
opinion  the  most  favourable  and  agreeable  place  for  a 
settlement  they  had  seen,  but  they  sailed  on  in  search  of 
the  copper  mine  reported  by  the  Sieur  Prevert.  They 
reached  Advocate's  Harbour  at  Cape  d'Or,  but  did  not 
find  the  place  as  described.  They  then  knew  that  Prevert 
had  not  been  there,  and  that  his  story  of  the  mine  was  as 
mythical  as  that  of  the  Gougou.  Nevertheless  the  ex- 
panse of  water  inclosed  by  Cape  d'Or  is  called  the  Basin 
of  Mines  to  this  day.  Still  searching,  they  coasted  to 
Cape  Chignecto,  crossed  the  Bay  to  Quaco,  and  followed 
westward  to  a  river  called  by  the  savages  Ouygoudy,  and 
as  it  was  June  24,  St.  John  the  Baptist's  Day,  they  named 
it  after  him.     The  river  is  still  called  the  St.  John,  and 


CHAMPLAIN  243 

gave  its  name  in  after  years  to  the  city  at  its  mouth. 
Champlain  gives  a  chart  of  the  harbour.  He  describes 
the  place 

'  Where  Ouygoudy's  wondrous  stream 
Flows  in  and  outward  with  a  double  fall," 

but,  writing  some  years  afterwards,  he  has  made  full  tide, 
instead  of  half  tide,  the  proper  time  to  pass  through  it  in 
a  vessel.  There  was  an  Indian  village  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river — a  large  enclosure  on  a  hillock — where  a 
sagamo  called  Chkoudun  lived.  Lescarbot  afterwards 
met  many  savages  from  Gaspe  there,  for  the  St.  John 
was  the  highway  to  the  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
of  the  rivers  falling  into  Chaleur  Bay.  Still  sailing  along 
the  coast  they  came  to  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  studded  with 
islands,  and  noted  the  Schoodic  or  Ste.  Croix  (river  of 
the  Etchemins)  falling  into  it.  De  Monts  selected  an 
island  at  the  mouth  of  that  river  to  be  the  site  of  his  set- 
tlement, and  called  it  Ste.  Croix. 

The  descriptive  details  given  in  Champlain's  narrative 
are  very  accurate  and  exceedingly  interesting.  With  the 
unwearying  patience  of  an  enthusiast  in  geography  he 
noted  the  peculiarities  of  each  locality  along  the  coast ; 
supplementing  his  observations  by  questioning  the 
Indians.  He  learned  from  them  of  the  portage  from  the 
upper  St.  John  to  the  rivers  falling  into  the  St.  Lawrence 
at  Tadoussac,  as  well  as  many  other  interesting  facts 
about  the  country.  He  fixed  the  latitude  at  45°  20', 
twelve  miles  too  far  north,  and  he  noted  the  variation  of 
the  compass  to  be  17°  32'  west. 

The  other  vessel,  waiting  in  St.  Mary's  Bay,  was  sent 
for  and  "  all  New  France "  being  assembled  on  Ste. 
Croix  Island  (now  Dochet  Island),  De  Monts  set  all 
to  work  clearing  and  building  and  planting.  Champlain 
designed  the  plans,  and  so  far-reaching  has  the  influence 
of  this  single  man  been  in  Canadian  history,  that  the 
foundations  of  the  buildings  he  erected,  when  discovered 
in  1797  during  a  boundary  dispute  mth  the  United  States, 


244    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

fixed  the  starting  point  of  the  boundary  and  saved  to 
Canada  a  threatened  mutilation  of  her  eastern  territory. 

Among  the  gentlemen  who  accompanied  De  Monts  was 
Jean  de  Biencourt,  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt,  Baron  de  St. 
Just,  a  name  highly  honoured  in  Canadian  history.  He 
fell  in  love  with  Port  Royal  (Annapolis  Basin),  and 
determined  to  bring  out  his  wife  and  family  and  dwell 
there  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  readily  obtained  a  con- 
cession of  the  locality  from  De  Monts,  whose  grant  cov- 
ered from  40°  to  46°  north  latitude.  He  had  come  out 
only  for  pleasure,  but  he  went  back  with  the  returning 
ships  on  August  31,  1604,  to  arrange  for  removal  to  the 
land  of  his  adoption.  The  King  confirmed  his  grant,  and 
he  spent  the  winter  of  1604-5  ^^  preparation.  Poutrin- 
court was  a  strong  Catholic,  and  had  fought  in  the  armies 
of  the  League  against  the  King.  His  personal  worth  had 
won  for  him  the  King's  favour,  he  had  filled  important 
positions  in  the  public  service,  and  won  high  considera- 
tion as  a  brave  and  capable  soldier.  After  the  ships  sailed 
Champlain  was  sent  westwards  along  the  coast,  and  he 
examined  it  as  far  as  the  Kennebec.  It  was  the  region 
known  since  Verrazano's  time  as  Norumbegue,  and  fabu- 
lous tales  were  told  of  its  wealth  and  of  a  great  and  rich 
city  on  the  Penobscot  which  was  often  called  the  river  of 
Norumbegue.  Champlain  reported  that  none  of  the  mar- 
vellous things  ascribed  to  that  region  had  any  existence, 
and  Lescarbot,  who  had  a  very  low  opinion  of  the  "  Voy- 
ages Advantureaux  "  ascribed  to  Jean  Allefonsce,  asks 
"  who  pulled  down  this  beautiful  city,  if  it  ever  ex- 
isted? for  now  only  a  few  bark  wigwams  can  be  found 
there." 

The  Island  of  Ste.  Croix  was  badly  chosen  for  a  set- 
tlement. During  the  winter  thirty-nine  died  of  scurvy, 
out  of  a  total  of  seventy-nine.  The  party  suffered  much 
from  the  cold  of  an  unusually  early  winter  as  well  as  from 
lack  of  proper  food,  so  that  when  in  June,  1605,  Pont- 
Grave  arrived  from  St.  Malo  with  supplies  everyone 
was  eager  to  leave.  Champlain  went  Avith  De  Monts  to 
examine  again  the  coast  to  the  west  for  a  better  site,  and 


CHAMPLAIN  245 

this  time  he  went  as  for  as  Mallebarre  (Nauset),  beyond 
Cape  Cod.  Some  of  the  names  he  gave  still  survive,  as 
Monts  Deserts,  Isle  Haute,  but  most  have  been  overlaid 
by  English  names.  He  visited,  among  other  places, 
Menane  (Grand  Manan,  in  New  Brunswick)  ;  the  River 
Quinibequy  (Kennebec)  ;  Chouacouet  (Saco),  a  bay 
unnamed,  now  known  as  Boston  Bay ;  the  Riviere  du  Gas 
(St.  Charles)  and  Port  St.  Louis  (Plymouth).  Cham- 
plain  gives  a  chart  of  this  harbour,  where  fifteen  years 
later  the  Pilgrims  were  to  land  on  their  storied  rock ; 
Cape  Cod  he  called  Cap  Blanc,  because  of  its  sand  dunes. 
On  this  voyage  he  became  acquainted  with  the  Armouch- 
iquois — the  people  whose  knees,  when  they  squatted  on 
their  heels,  reached,  according  to  the  veracious  Sieur  Pre- 
vert,  a  half  a  foot  above  their  heads.  The  patient  Cham- 
plain  makes  no  comment.  He  confirms  the  statement 
that  they  were  "  agile,"  but  found  them  well  formed. 

As  a  result  of  this  reconnaissance  De  Monts  resolved 
to  remove  his  colony  to  Port  Royal.  He  established 
himself,  not  at  Annapolis,  as  is  often  supposed,  but  on 
the  north  shore  of  the  Basin  at  Lower  Granville  and 
opposite  Goat  Island.  There,  with  renewed  hope,  they 
cleared  the  ground  and  erected  buildings,  partly  with  the 
lumber  brought  from  the  dismantled  settlement  at  Ste. 
Croix.  De  Monts  had  to  return  to  France,  and  Pont- 
Grave  was  left  in  charge  for  the  winter.  Champlain 
remained  also,  in  the  hope  of  making  further  explora- 
tions towards  Florida.  The  winter  was  passed  more 
successfully  than  the  previous  one,  although  they  lost 
twelve  out  of  forty-five  men  by  scurvy.  On  leaving  for 
France  De  Monts  had  instructed  Pont-Grave  to  return 
home  in  case  no  communication  should  arrive  from  him 
by  July  16.  When  that  time  arrived,  no  intelligence 
having  been  received,  all  the  party  set  out  to  return, 
except  two  men  who  volunteered  to  remam  with  the 
stores.  Membertou,  the  grand  chief  of  the  Micmacs, 
promised  to  take  care  of  them  as  if  they  were  his  own 
children.  One  cannot  resist  expressing  admiration  for 
the  French  who  led  in  the  settlement  of  Canada,  because 


246    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

of  the  way  they  won  the  confidence  of  the  savage  tribes 
around  them.  Champlain,  De  Monts,  Poutrincourt,  Les- 
carbot,  were  a  galaxy  of  men  of  lofty  character,  wide 
charity,  and  exceptional  capacity. 

The  two  brave  Frenchmen  who  remained  under  Mem- 
bertou's  protection  now  stood  alone  for  New  France.  The 
rest  of  the  colony  sailed  in  two  little  vessels  for  Canso, 
to  find  some  fishing  craft  to  take  them  back  to  France. 
After  a  narrow  escape,  through  the  loss  of  their  rudder 
in  a  storm,  they  were  rejoiced  at  meeting  a  small  shallop 
off  Cape  Sable  under  charge  of  Ralleau,  the  secretary  of 
De  Monts,  from  whom  they  learned  that  De  Monts  had 
sent  out  another  vessel  with  Poutrincourt  in  command  as 
Lieutenant  General.  He  himself  had  to  remain  in  France, 
but  Poutrincourt  came  out  to  stay,  and  had  brought  out 
a  number  of  people  to  settle.  The  ship  had  touched  at 
Canso,  and  the  shallop  had  been  sent  inshore  to  meet  any 
of  the  garrison  of  Port  Royal  who  might  happen  to  be  on 
their  way  back,  as  ordered.  All  returned  in  high  spirits, 
and  at  Port  Royal  they  found  Poutrincourt.  The  little 
colony  once  more  resumed  its  building  and  clearing  and 
planting.  The  site  of  the  present  town  of  Annapolis 
was  cleared  as  a  farm,  and  a  mill  was  erected  on  a  little 
stream  near  by.  Then  Pont-Grave  returned  with  some 
of  the  men  who  had  wintered  over,  and  Poutrincourt  and 
Champlain  started  once  more  to  explore  along  the  New 
England  coast,  for  De  Monts  was  still  desirous  of  hav- 
ing his  settlement  in  a  warmer  climate  farther  south  than 
Mallebarre. 

Among  those  who  came  with  Poutrincourt  was  Marc 
Lescarbot,  Seigneur  de  St.  Audebert,  a  bright,  witty 
advocate  of  Parliament  of  good  family.  The  enthusiasm 
of  his  friend  for  Port  Royal  had  fired  the  imagination  of 
the  genial  lawyer,  and  he  enlivened  the  winter  of  1606-07 
with  his  gaiety.  He  was  not  only  witty,  but  industrious, 
and  his  information  was  wide  and  accurate.  His  "  His- 
tory of  New  France  "  is  highly  esteemed,  not  only  for  its 
matter,  but  for  its  style,  and  in  its  pages  the  doings  of  the 
early  French  explorers  are  recorded  in  vivid  as  well  as 


rt 

m 


< 


be 


CHAMPLAIN  247 

truthful  colours.  Lescarbot  was  not  an  explorer  or  a 
trader,  and  not  much  of  a  sailor.  He  went  no  farther 
than  the  St.  John  and  the  Ste.  Croix  rivers.  Champlain 
and  Poutrincourt  searched  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  its  farth- 
est depths.  They  went,  of  course,  to  the  Sieur  Prevert's 
mine,  and  with  difficulty  got  a  few  specimens  of  native 
copper.  There  was  as  little  then  as  now.  Lescarbot 
worked  busily  at  his  garden,  and  long  before  Boston  was 
founded  he  cultivated  the  Muses  on  the  forest-clad  shores 
of  the  Annapolis  basin.  It  was  a  bright  group  which  as- 
sembled that  winter  at  Port  Royal.  Champlain,  with  the 
experience  of  two  winters  in  the  New  World,  knew  the 
importance  of  cheerfulness  and  good  food.  He  instituted 
the  Ordre  de  Bon-Tcmps,  an  association  of  practical 
good-fellowship,  by  which  each  one  who  sat  at  Poutrin- 
court's  table  was  charged,  in  turn,  with  providing  the  food 
for  the  day.  At  dinner  time  the  brethren  of  the  order 
marched  in  procession  into  the  dining  hall  headed  by  the 
purveyor  of  the  day  with  his  napkin  on  his  shoulder  and 
the  badge  of  the  order  around  his  neck.  The  members 
followed,  bearing  the  dishes  he  had  provided,  largely  from 
the  surrounding  woods  and  waters ;  for  game  was  plenty 
around  Annapolis  in  those  days. 

The  winter  passed  pleasantly  enough,  but  with  the 
spring  ship  came  evil  tidings.  De  Monts'  privilege  had 
been  revoked,  and  with  it  fell  the  fund  necessary  to  sup- 
port the  colony.  Orders  came  for  all  to  return,  and 
Lescarbot  went,  with  most  of  the  settlers,  to  Canso  to 
take  a  fishing  vessel  for  France.  Poutrincourt  waited  to 
get  in  his  harvest  so  as  to  demonstrate  to  the  King  the 
fertility  of  the  soil.  Champlain  waited  to  finish  his  map, 
and,  without  a  touch  of  impatience  at  the  wreck  of  the 
colony,  calmly  describes  those  points  along  the  coast 
which  he  had  not  noted  before.  Among  them  was  an 
island  called  Sesambre  (from  a  small  island  near  St. 
Malo),  now  corrupted  into  Sambro,  and  an  adjacent  bay 
very  clear  of  all  obstruction,  now  Halifax  harbour. 
They  all  sailed  together  from  Canso  on  September  3, 
1607.     That  same  year  the  English  made  at  Jamestown 


248    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

in  Virginia  their  first  permanent  settlement  in  the  Western 
World. 

During  the  term  of  De  Monts'  privilege  his  officers  had 
seized  some  vessels  trading  on  the  coast  of  Acadia,  and 
when  he  arrived  in  France  he  found  an  outcry  from  the 
maritime  cities  against  his  privilege  of  exclusive  trading. 
He  had  sent  out  a  number  of  men,  erected  buildings,  en- 
gaged and  built  vessels,  and  supported  a  colony  during 
three  consecutive  years.  Nothing  had  been  drawn  from 
the  public  treasury  and  yet  the  enterprise  was  supremely 
in  the  public  interest.  Cartier  had  been  a  heavy  loser, 
Roberval  had  been  ruined.  La  Roche  had  died  broken 
down  by  his  losses,  and  De  Monts,  no  trader,  but  a  high- 
spirited  soldier  who  had  left  his  easy  position  in  France 
to  encounter  the  hardships  and  perils  of  the  New  World 
and  attempt  the  almost  desperate  effort  of  founding  a 
colony  for  France,  was  now  sacrificed  to  the  selfish 
clamour  of  a  few  traders  who  had  no  thought  beyond 
their  individual  profit.  De  Monts'  privilege  was  for  ten 
years,  and  in  that  time  he  might  have  established  his 
colony  and  built  up  a  permanent  trade  open  to  all  and  for 
the  benefit  of  all.  Not  content  with  the  cry  of  "  free 
trade  for  all,"  these  traders,  who  during  all  the  years  they 
had  been  on  the  coast  had  never  thought  of  it  before, 
mourned  that  no  Indians  were  being  baptised  and  that 
souls  were  being  lost  because  De  Monts  was  a  Protestant. 
This  latter  cry  waked  up  a  number  of  people  who  really 
believed  it,  and  under  their  united  attack  the  exclusive 
privilege  was  revoked.  De  Monts  got  only  6000  livres 
to  recompense  him  for  all  his  outlay,  and  that  had  to  be 
recovered  from  the  traders,  so  that  the  cost  of  suits  to 
collect  the  amount  in  small  sums  would  swallow  up  the 
total  amount. 

The  chapter  of  discovery  in  Acadia  now  closes.  What 
follows  is  history — history  touched  with  passion  and  inci- 
dent so  romantic  that  it  is  difficult  to  pass  it  over.  The 
French  did  not  forsake  Acadia.  Poutrincourt  and  his 
family  kept  up  a  small  colony  at  Port  Royal, — not  a  colony 
of  fur  traders,  but  an  agricultural  colony, — and  titles  of 


CHAMPLAIN  249 

concession  were  granted  as  early  at  1610.  In  the  following 
year  Madame  de  Poutrincourt  came  out,  and,  although 
she  returned  in  1612,  her  son,  a  young  man  of  enterprise, 
kept  up  the  colony  in  spite  of  determined  opposition  in 
France,  It  was  untrue  that  no  attempt  was  made  to 
convert  the  Indians.  The  Abbe  Aubry  went  out  with 
Poutrincourt,  and  Lescarbot,  an  unquestioned  Catholic, 
taught  the  Indians  during  the  winter  of  1606-07.  His 
address  to  France  breathes  a  sincere  spirit  of  love  of 
country  and  zeal  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  with  hatred 
of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  cruelty.  Poutrincourt  had 
been  a  prominent  soldier  of  the  League,  and  his  orthodoxy 
could  not  be  questioned.  Champlain  was  a  sincere  Cath- 
olic all  his  life.  The  influences  which  prevented  the 
success  of  the  colony  were  incongruous  and  insincere,  but 
to  set  them  forth  further  is  beyond  the  scope  of  the  pres- 
ent volume.  Champlain,  De  Monts,  Poutrincourt,  and 
Lescarbot  were  far-seeing  and  patriotic  men.  They  were 
Frenchmen  of  the  highest  type  of  their  race.  They 
founded  the  first  permanent  settlement  of  Europeans  on 
the  continent  north  of  the  Spaniards.  They  won  the 
hearts  of  the  Indians  of  Acadia,  and  if  those  who  con- 
trolled the  destiny  of  France  could  have  risen  to  the 
height  of  Henry  IV.,  or  Richelieu,  or  could  have  seen 
beyond  frivolous  gallantries  and  ephemeral  court  in- 
trigues, North  America  would  now  be  a  French  continent. 


NOTES    TO    CHAPTER    XV 


The  origin  and  meaning  of  the  word  Acadia  has  been  mucH 
discussed ;  but  the  opinion  generally  held  in  A^^merica  is  that  it 
is  derived  from  the  Micmac  word,  akade,  signifying  a  place  or 
locality.  This  word  was  not  used  alone,  but  in  conjunction  with 
some  other  word  to  express  the  distinguishing  peculiarity  of  the 
place.  Thus  in  Nova  Scotia  Shubenacadic,  the  place  of  ground 
nuts.  In  New  Brunswick,  by  the  change  of  dialect  of  a  kindred 
tribe,  it  becomes  quoddy  as  in  Passamaqtwddy,  the  place  where 


250    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

pollock  are  abundant.  There  is  no  question  that  the  word  exists 
as  a  locative  suffix  in  all  the  aboriginal  dialects  of  the  maritime 
provinces  of  Canada,  and  therefore  it  would  of  necessity  be  con- 
stantly in  the  mouths  of  the  Indians.  Dr.  Rand,  the  most  learned 
of  scholars  in  these  languages,  gives  a  long  list  of  Micmac  place 
names  ending  in  akadc,  and  many  still  survive  upon  the  maps. 
The  word  Acadia  therefore,  in  this  view,  has  a  rational  origin 
and  significance.  It  first  occurs  in  the  books  in  De  Monts'  peti- 
tion for  a  commission  in  1603  as  la  Cadie.  Champlain  in  his  first 
voyage  spells  the  word  Ar cadie  and  afterwards  Accadie  or 
Cadic. 

It  has,  however,  been  argued  recently  that  it  is  a  European 
word  of  doubtful  origin  and  meaning.  This  theory  is  based  on 
the  fact  that  in  Gastaldi's  map  (1548)  and  Zaltieri's  (1566),  as 
well  as  on  some  others,  it  appears  as  Larcadia,  and  it  is  pointed 
out  that  the  letter  r  does  not  occur  in  the  Micmac  language.  But 
the  a  is  long  and  the  sound  is  similar.  Moreover,  the  spelling  on 
these  old  maps  is  too  erratic  to  permit  of  any  argument  being 
based  upon  a  letter.  The  argument  from  Ribeiro's  "  largales " 
falls  to  the  ground,  because  both  Kohl  and  Harrisse  read  the 
word  "  sargales  " ;  Kohl  translates  it  "  brambles."  It  is  the  name 
of  a  bay  on  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  apparently  near  the  present 
Halifax.  Larcadia  as  a  European  word  has  no  significance,  and 
is  more  likely  to  be  a  misspelling,  suggested  by  the  classic  word 
"  Arcadia  "  common  on  the  maps  of  Greece. 

The  name  Acadia  is  now  used  to  denote  the  three  Atlantic 
provinces  of  the  Dominion  when  taken  collectively. 

ANNAPOLIS    BASIN 

Annapolis  Basin,  the  old  Port  Royal  of  the  French,  has  an 
enduring  charm  even  for  those  most  familiar  with  it.  The 
Baron  de  Poutrincourt  was  willing  to  abandon  his  position  and 
lands  in  Old  France  to  dwell  there,  and  the  vivid  Lescarbot 
becomes  idyllic  in  his  description.  He  quotes  Moses  in  Deut. 
viii.  7:  "  For  the  Lord  thy  God  bringeth  thee  into  a  good  land,  a 
land  of  brooks  of  water,  of  fountains  and  depths  that  spring  out 
of  valleys  and  hills ;  .  .  .  a  land  whose  stones  are  iron,  and  out 
of  whose  hills  thou  mayest  dig  brass."  And  again  in  Deut.  xi.  10, 
to  the  same  eflfect.  Then  he  goes  on  to  apply  the  texts,  and  points 
out  the  wooded  hills  round  the  still  basin  and  the  brooks  falling 
in  cascades  of  white  foam  against  the  green  background.  A  little 
further  westward,  on  the  basin  of  Mines,  are  the  hills  "whose 
stones  are  iron,"  and  the  copper  at  Cape  d'Or  represents  the 
hills  whence  one  may  "  dig  brass."  Then  he  goes  on  to  describe 
the  meadows  on  the  river  where  ,\nna])i>Iis  now  stands.  'l"he 
charm  this  part  of  Nova  Scotia  always  had  for  the  French  is 
most  remarkable  in  view  of  the  way  they  now  cling  to  the  cities 
of  France  and  their  preference  for  an  asphalt  pavement  over  a 


CHAMPLAIN  251 

carpet  of  greensward.  In  the  sorrowful  days  of  the  dispersion 
the  hearts  of  the  exiles  yearned  for  their  home  in  Acadia  with 
the  yearning  of  the  captives  by  the  waters  of  Babylon,  and  many 
returned  in  the  face  of  incredible  hardships.  Pont-Grave  did 
not  like  Port  Royal,  on  account  of  the  narrowness  of  the  entrance 
from  the  sea,  and  Charlevoix  thought  that  Canso  was  the  most 
suitable  place  for  the  capital  of  Acadia. 

ST.    SAUVEUR 

It  is  foreign  to  the  object  of  this  volume  to  enter  into  the 
reasons  which  led  to  the  weakening  of  the  colony  at  Port  Royal 
by  the  foundation  of  another,  in  1613,  on  the  Island  of  Mont 
Desert  at  the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot.  This  last  was  founded 
under  the  patronage  and  at  the  cost  of  Madame  de  Guerche- 
ville ;  and  De  Saussure,  whom  she  sent  out  with  some  colonists, 
erected  her  escutcheon  instead  of  the  arms  of  France.  The  two 
Jesuit  missionaries  who  in  161 1  had  come  to  Port  Royal  left  for 
St.  Sauveur,  for  so  they  called  it,  and  at  a  place  now  called 
Frenchman's  Bay  on  the  desolate  rocky  island  of  Mont  Desert 
they  made  their  landing.  The  English  under  Argall  destroyed  it 
the  same  year  and  carried  all  the  people  off  to  Virginia,  for 
settlers  they  could  scarcely  be  called,  who  had  chosen  so  savage 
a  wilderness, 

ENGLISH  VOYAGES 

The  conflicting  claims  of  the  English  and  French  to  the 
northeastern  regions  of  America  are  manifest  in  the  grants, 
commissions,  and  patents  issued  by  the  two  governments.  They 
overlap  each  other  and  ignore  all  opposing  pretensions.  As  has 
been  shown  in  the  earlier  chapters,  Spain  claimed  the  whole 
continent  up  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  Portugal  claimed  the  rest. 
England  claimed  everything  north  and  east  of  the  Carolinas,  on 
the  strength  of  the  Cabot  voyages,  and  France  claimed  nearly 
the  same  region,  partly  because  of  the  voyage  of  Verrazano,  and 
also  because  of  the  early  fishing  enterprises  of  the  Bretons.  The 
discussion  of  the  charters  granted  to  Roberval  and  De  Monts  by 
France,  and  to  Gilbert,  Raleigh,  the  Virginia  and  New  England 
companies,  and  Sir  William  Alexander  are  beyond  the  scope  of 
this  volume,  for  they  are  documents  of  policy,  not  facts  of 
discovery.  The  fact  is  plain  that  the  French  under  De  Monts 
made  the  first  permanent  settlement,  and  that  although  the  settle- 
ment on  the  Ste.  Croix  in  1604  was  removed  to  the  opposite  shore 
at  Port  Royal  (Annapolis)  in  1605,  the  colony  through  all  its 
vicissitudes  was  continuous,  and  the  French  never  dropped  their 
hold  from  the  Penobscot  northwards  and  eastwards.  That  river 
was  the  true  boundary  between  the  two  nations. 

Before  and  at  the  time  of  Champlain's  surveys  English  sailors 


252    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

had  examined  the  coast  of  New  England  under  the  vague  name 
of  Norumbega ;  but  until  the  Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth  in 
1620  there  was  no  permanent,  continuous  settlement.  Simon 
Ferdinando,  a  Portuguese  living  in  England,  made  a  voyage  to 
Norumbega  in  1579.  and  John  Walker,  under  the  authority  of  Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert,  in  1578  made  a  voyage  preliminary  to  Gilbert's 
own  expedition,  which  got  no  farther  than  Newfoundland.  In 
1602  an  attempt  at  colonisation  was  made  by  Captain  Barthol- 
omew Gosnold.  He  made  a  landfall  about  Casco  in  Maine,  and 
coasted  New  England  westwards  as  far  as  Massachusetts.  He 
landed  his  colonists  and  built  a  house  for  them,  but  they  would 
not  stay,  and  he  had  to  carry  them  all  back.  In  the  following 
year  (1603)  two  vessels  under  Pring  went  to  the  Massachusetts 
coast  for  a  cargo  of  sassafras.  In  1605,  while  De  Monts  and 
Champlain  were  examining  the  coast  west  of  the  Ste.  Croix,  they 
heard  of  an  English  vessel  having  been  there.  This  was  the 
Archangel  from  Dartmouth,  commanded  by  Captain  George 
Waymouth.  He  anchored  at  Monhegan  Island  off  the  Penobscot 
on  May  18.  He  explored  the  Kennebec  River  and  planted  a  cross 
some  distance  up  the  stream.  Then  kidnapping  five  Indians,  he 
sailed  home  without  makmg  any  attempt  to  settle.  Then  followed 
the  attempt  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  Sir  John  Popham 
under  English  patents.  Their  first  ship  was  captured  by  the 
Spaniards  in  1606,  but  in  1607  an  expedition  sent  out  by  them 
coasted  Nova  Scotia,  visited  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  and  settled  at 
Sagadanoc  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec.  The  settlers  built  a 
fort  and  remained  there  during  the  winter  of  1607-08,  when  the)' 
returned  to  England. 


Samuel    de   Cliamplain 

After  a  painting  by  Hamel  from  an  engraving  by  Moncornet. 

Reproduced  from  Dr.  Shea's  translation  of  Charlevoix  History, 

bv  permission  nf  Mr.  F.  P.  Hririier,  New  Yurk 


CHAPTER   XVI 

CHAMPLAIN     IN     QUEBEC 

HITHERTO  we  have  seen  Champlain  as  explorer 
and  cartographer,  sailor  and  soldier,  builder  and 
planter,  writer  and  amateur  artist ;  but  not  in 
chief  command.  Now,  in  1608,  he  enters  upon 
his  lifework  as  chief.  What  had  passed  was  exploration, 
but  now  his  career  commences  as  discoverer  and  colo- 
niser, as  the  real  father  of  Canada — the  far-sighted  leader 
who,  with  a  prophet's  instinct,  if  not  with  clear  vision, 
recognised  the  real  pathway  to  the  west  and  sought  to 
seize  for  France  the  continent  at  its  every  heart.  If  in  the 
sequel  France  failed  to  reap  the  harvest  he  had  sown, 
the  fault  lay  with  those  in  after  generations  who 
squandered  her  resources  by  peculation  and  wasted  in 
the  pursuit  of  trifling  aims  the  energies  which  might 
have  built  an  empire. 

After  an  absence  of  three  years  and  four  months  in 
Acadia  Champlain  landed  at  St.  Malo.  He  went  at  once 
to  De  Monts,  with  his  maps  and  plans,  and  related  all 
he  had  learned  of  the  country  from  Cape  Cod  along  the 
coast  of  Acadia  and  up  the  Gulf  and  River  of  Canada 
as  far  as  the  rapids  at  Montreal.  De  Monts  resolved  to 
make  another  attempt,  and  having  procured  from  the 
King  an  exclusive  privilege  of  trade  for  one  year  only, 
sent  out  Champlain  as  his  lieutenant,  and  in  another  ves- 
sel Pont-Grave  to  attend  to  the  fur  trading  out  of  which 
the  expenses  were  to  be  recouped.  The  St.  Lawrence 
River  was  chosen  as  the  field  of  the  enterprise.  Cham- 
plain was  to  remain  there  over  the  winter  and  Pont-Grave 
was  to  return  with  the  furs  in  the  autumn.  The  name  of 
De  Monts  does  indeed  survive  in  Point  de  Monts,  the 

253 


254    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

point  of  land  on  the  north  shore  which  marks  off  the  gulf 
from  the  river,  but  his  initiative  in  the  history  of  New 
France  has  not  been  sufficiently  recognised.  The  vessel 
sailed  from  Honfleur,  and  Champlain  arrived  in  Tadous- 
sac  on  June  3,  where  he  found  Pont-Grave  wounded  in 
an  attempt  to  seize  the  ship  of  some  irrepressible  Basques 
whom  he  had  found  trading,  instead  of  whaling,  as  they 
had  been  sent  out  to  do.  The  matter  having  been  settled, 
Champlain  built  a  small  vessel  for  use  upon  the  river,  and 
went  up  to  the  narrows,  called  Quebec,  he  expressly  says, 
"  by  the  savages."  This  place  he  rightly  judged  to  be  the 
key  of  the  river,  and  after  searching  around  the  basin  he 
selected  for  the  site  of  his  settlement  a  level  spot  covered 
with  nut  trees  between  the  cliff  and  the  narrowest  point 
of  the  river.  He  commenced  to  clear  and  build  close  to 
the  place  where  the  Champlain  market  now  stands  in  the 
lower  town  of  the  present  city,  and  partly  on  the  site  now 
occupied  by  the  Church  of  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires. 

The  "  abitation,"  to  use  Champlain's  name,  consisted  of 
several  two-story  buildings  surrounded  by  ditches,  outside 
of  which  were  spurs  (tenaiUes)  with  platforms  for  can- 
non. Two  are  shown  on  the  plan — there  was  probably 
another  in  rear.  The  gate  was  approached  by  a  draw- 
bridge, a  promenade  ran  round  the  lower  story  and  a 
gallery  round  the  upper  one.  A  lookout  tower  {colom- 
bier)  stood  at  the  angle.  Gardens  were  laid  out  and 
planted  (for  the  soil  was  good),  and  in  superintending  all 
these  works  Champlain  was  occupied  until  autumn.  On 
September  18  Pont-Grave  set  sail  for  France  and  left 
Champlain  to  face  his  first  winter  in  Canada. 

The  winter  passed  without  any  unusual  occurrences. 
Eighteen  of  the  party  were  attacked  by  the  scurvy,  and  of 
these  ten  died.  Nothing  was  heard  of  the  ameda — Car- 
tier's  tree  of  health — either  here  or  previously  at  Ste. 
Croix  Island  on  the  Acadian  coast.  Lescarbot  says  that 
Champlain  made  diligent  inquiry  about  it  without  suc- 
cess, and  he  shrewdly  conjectures  that  the  savages  at 
Quebec  in  Champlain's  time  were  of  a  different  race 
from  those   Cartier   found  there.     This  we  now   know 


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CHAMPLAIN   IN   QUEBEC      255 

to  have  been  the  case.  The  Huron-Iroquois  race  was 
farther  advanced  than  the  unsettled  tribes  with  whom 
Champlain  was  now  brought  into  close  relation. 

Pont-Grave  returned  to  Tadoussac  on  May  28,  1609, 
and  on  June  7  Champlain  went  down  to  meet  him  and 
talk  over  the  exploration  to  the  west,  which  formed  part 
of  the  original  plan.  Exploration  was  a  passion  with 
Champlain,  and  in  their  representations  to  the  King,  while 
De  Monts  would  dwell  upon  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  the 
prospect  of  a  new  route  to  China  was  the  theme  of  Cham- 
plain's  discourse,  as  it  was  ever  in  his  mind.  So  without 
loss  of  time  he  started  on  June  18,  with  twenty  men  in  a 
shallop,  to  meet  some  Indians  who  had  promised  to  be  his 
guides.  He  found  them  encamped  on  an  island  near  St. 
Mary's  River  (now  the  Ste.  Anne).  There  were  two  or 
three  hundred  on  their  way  to  Quebec ;  they  had  planned 
a  large  war  party  to  invade  the  country  of  the  Iroquois, 
and  they  were  counting  upon  Champlain's  assistance. 

It  is  necessary  to  dwell  for  a  moment  upon  some  points 
of  Indian  history  and  politics,  since  Champlain  has  been 
blamed  by  many  because  the  course  of  action  he  now 
entered  upon  involved,  in  the  sequel,  many  disasters  to 
the  colony.  When  Champlain  first  saw  Canada  in  1603, 
with  no  thought  of  any  further  relations  with  it,  he  found 
the  war  between  the  Algonquins  and  Iroquois  in  full  force, 
and  the  French  already  committed  to  the  policy  of  an 
alHance.  Nor  in  fact  even  in  the  light  of  succeeding 
history  would  any  other  course  have  been  possible,  be- 
cause the  settled  policy  of  the  Iroquois  confederacy  was 
to  force  every  nation  they  came  into  contact  with  either 
into  their  political  system  or  into  strict  alliance.  There 
was  no  neutrality  possible,  for  the  Iroquois,  with  the 
astuteness  of  the  old  Romans,  concentrated  their  energies 
on  one  enemy  at  a  time  and  temporised  with  the  others. 
When  a  hostile  tribe  was  conquered  the  work  never  had 
to  be  done  over  again.  They  used  no  half  measures — 
they  utterly  rooted  it  up  and  renewed  their  own  losses 
by  the  adoption  into  their  tribes  of  the  remnants.  Then 
they  turned  their  energies  upon  some  other  people  and 


256    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

readily  found  ground  for  quarrel.  The  tribes — kindred 
to  themselves — who  occupied  the  peninsula  of  the  present 
Province  of  Ontario  were  neutral  in  the  war  between  the 
Iroquois  and  the  ^Hucpns,  but  that  did  not  prevent  the 
Iroquois,  after  they  had  destroyed  the  Hurons,  from 
turning  first  upon  the  Tobacco  nation  and  then  upon  the 
Neutral  nation,  whose  very  name  testified  to  their  policy, 
and  utterly  destroying  them  also.  Even  if  the  French 
had  possessed  less  than  the  usual  aggressiveness  of  Euro- 
peans, no  other  course  was  open  than  to  take  sides  with 
the  tribe  in  occupation  of  the  valley  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence. 

The  French  court,  while  exhausting  the  energies  of  the 
nation  and  squandering  incalculable  blood  and  treasure 
upon  unnecessary  wars  for  trivial  causes  in  Europe,  per- 
mitted a  savage  nation,  not  strong  in  numbers,  but  formid- 
able by  political  intelligence  and  public  spirit,  to  bring  the 
French  colony  repeatedly  to  the  brink  of  destruction  and 
to  destroy  their  Indian  allies.  Champlain  saw  the  remedy 
clearly  and  in  1635,  only  four  months  before  his  death, 
writing  from  Quebec  to  Cardinal  Richelieu,  he  tells  of 
the  beauty  and  richness  of  the  land,  of  the  avenue  to 
commerce  and  the  open  door  to  the  preaching  of  Chris- 
tianity— a  land  stretching  more  than  fifteen  hundred 
leagues  from  east  to  west  and  watered  by  one  of  the 
world's  noblest  rivers.  He  asks  for  only  120  men,  light 
armed  against  arrows,  and  with  them  and  2000  or  3000 
Indian  allies  he  asserts  that  a  peace  could  speedily  be 
conquered  in  one  year.  He  pleads  that  120  men  are  so 
little  for  France,  and  that  the  enterprise  is  so  honourable. 
It  would  bring  incalculable  benefits  to  France,  he  urges, 
for  the  English  and  Dutch,  who  were  commencing  to 
settle,  would  be  confined  to  the  coasts,  while  the  whole 
interior  would  be  open  to  French  trade.  Champlain  was 
not  responsible  for  the  initial  policy  nor  for  the  succeed- 
ing neglect  to  carry  it  out.  The  hostility  of  the  Iroquois 
diverted  the  course  of  exploration  from  the  St.  Law- 
rence, and  was  the  reason  that  Lake  Huron  and  even 
Lake  Superior  were  discovered  before  Lake  Erie. 


CHAMPLAIN    IN   QUEBEC      257 

Champlain  at  the  urgent  request  of  the  Indians  returned 
with  them  to  Quebec,  where  five  or  six  days  were  spent 
in  festivities — feasting,  and  dancing,  and  speech-making. 
The  war  party  consisted  of  Hurons  from  Georgian  Bay 
and  Algonquins  from  the  Ottawa.  The  former  had  not 
yet  received  the  nickname  of  Hurons  (bristled  heads). 
Champlain  calls  them  Ochasteguins,  after  the  name  of 
their  chief.  Their  real  name  was  Wyandots,  Wendots, 
or  Yendats.  He  knew  of  their  racial  identity  with  the 
hostile  tribes  at  the  south,  and  in  telling  his  adventures  to 
the  King  he  calls  them  "  the  good  Iroquois."  The  other 
tribe  which  he  already  knew  as  Algonquemins  (Algon- 
quins) were  under  a  chief  called  Iroquet.  The  use  of 
"  Algonquin  "  as  a  generic  word,  including  a  great  family 
of  tribes  of  cognate  speech,  was  not  then  known. 

On  June  28  the  war  party  started  from  Quebec.  There 
were  only  twelve  Frenchmen  in  all,  for  Pont-Grave  re- 
turned to  Tadoussac  with  his  people.  Many  new  features 
of  the  country  were  observed  by  Champlain,  and  he  drew 
from  the  Indians  much  information  about  the  surround- 
ing country.  He  gave  names  to  places  on  the  route,  some 
of  which  have  survived.  Lake  St.  Peter  (the  Lac  d'An- 
goulesme  of  Cartier's  maps)  had  by  this  time  received  its 
present  name.  The  mouth  of  the  St.  Maurice  (the  Riviere 
de  Fouez  or  Foix  of  Cartier)  was  known  as  Three  Rivers. 
Pont-Grave  had  traded  there  and  had  advocated  building 
a  fort  there  ;  other  localities  have  not  retained  their  names. 
The  Ste.  Suzanne  of  Champlain  is  now  the  Riviere  du 
Loup,  his  Riviere  du  Pont  is  the  St.  Francis,  and  the 
Riviere  de  Gennes  is  the  present  Yamaska.  They  stopped 
for  two  days  to  hunt  and  fish  at  the  mouth  of  the  Riviere 
des  Iroquois  (now  the  Richelieu).  This  is  the  most  im- 
portant tributary  of  the  St,  Lawrence  from  the  south. 
It  drains  Lake  George  and  Lake  Champlain,  and  from 
the  former  by  a  short  portage  the  head-waters  of  the  Hud- 
son River  are  reached,  flowing  directly  south  to  the  ocean 
at  New  York.  This  was  the  route  leading  to  Florida 
which  Cartier  heard  of  from  Donnacona.  The  Mohawk 
tribe  of  the  Iroquois  league  occupied  the  water-parting. 


2^8    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

and  the  expedition  was  striking  at  the  heart  of  their 
territory. 

The  river  is  navigable  for  large  vessels  for  forty-five 
miles  to  Chambly,  where  there  are  rapids  now  overcome 
by  a  canal  of  seven  locks.  The  Indians  had  told  Cham- 
plain  that  the  navigation  was  unobstructed,  and  that  his 
shallop  could  pass  up  into  the  lake ;  but  here  he  found  an 
impassable  obstruction,  and,  after  landing,  and  searching 
in  vain  for  some  way  of  carrying  his  vessel  round  through 
the  woods,  he  had  to  abandon  the  idea.  But  he  would 
still  keep  his  promise  to  the  Indians  at  any  hazard.  Two 
Frenchmen  volunteered  to  go  with  him,  and  he  sent  the 
shallop  back  with  the  rest  of  his  men  to  Quebec.  The 
canoes  of  the  Indians  were  carried  round  the  rapids,  and 
the  three  intrepid  Frenchmen,  in  the  bark  canoes  of  their 
savage  allies,  continued  on  their  hazardous  journey.  The 
primaeval  forest  clothed  the  banks  in  dense  continuous 
masses,  and  the  broad  stream,  shimmering  in  the  summer 
sun,  seemed  an  avenue  of  light  opening  upon  unknown 
mysteries ;  but  in  these  tangled  woods  might  lurk  bands 
of  hostile  Iroquois  to  cut  off  their  return.  If  any 
thoughts  of  fear  could  disturb  the  calm  of  Champlain's 
mind,  here  would  certainly  have  been  justification  for  it, 
but  duty  was  the  dominant  motive  in  his  character.  He 
had  been  sent  to  Canada  to  make  explorations  and  to 
found  a  colony ;  this  Indian  war  being  part  of  the  policy 
adopted,  no  other  course  was  possible  for  him  ;  besides, 
he  had  given  his  word,  and  although  his  wild  allies  had 
deceived  him  about  the  obstruction  to  navigaton,  he 
would  not  break  his  promise  even  to  savages. 

Some  of  the  Indians,  with  characteristic  inconstancy, 
had  abandoned  the  expedition  when  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  and  after  passing  the  rapids  they  had  a  review  of 
their  force,  and  found  they  had  remaining  sixty  men  with 
twenty-four  canoes.  They  stopped  at  an  island  (Isle 
Ste.  Therese),  where  they  hunted  and  then  proceeded  to 
a  place  somewhere  near  the  present  town  of  St.  Johns 
and  encami)ed.  The  chiefs  now  indicated  to  each  man 
his  position  in  action,  using  for  that  purpose  small  sticks, 


CHAMPLAIN   IN   QUEBEC      259 

which  they  stuck  into  the  ground  for  the  men,  and  longer 
sticks  for  the  chiefs.  The  Indians  crowded  round  to 
study  the  plan  and  learn  their  places.  Their  canoes  were 
drawn  up  on  the  river  bank,  and  as  they  were  in  an 
enemy's  country  they  erected  at  night  a  breastwork  of 
trees  to  cover  their  camp — a  task  which,  to  Champlain's 
surprise,  they  completed  in  two  hours.  The  next  day 
they  continued  their  course  up  the  river  and  into  the  lake, 
to  which  he  gave  its  present  name,  Lake  Champlain. 
His  eyes  dwelt  upon  all  points  of  interest,  and  he  records 
his  impressions  with  much  detail.  The  trees,  the  game, 
the  beauty  of  the  country,  the  signs  of  former  occupation 
before  the  ruinous  war  with  the  Iroquois,  all  caught 
his  attention.  Then  as  they  went  up  the  lake  he  noted 
the  Green  Mountains  of  Vermont  in  the  distance  on  the 
left,  and  on  the  right  the  Adirondacks  of  New  York 
State,  closer  to  the  shore.  They  were  now  in  the  Mo- 
hawk country,  and  they  travelled  only  by  night,  resting 
during  the  day.  At  last  near  the  point  of  Ticonderoga, 
the  outlet  of  Lake  George,  where  a  short  portage  leads 

[  from  one  lake  to  the  other,  they  met  a  party  of  Iroquois. 

i  The  spot  became  historic  in  after  years,  for  it  was  the  key 
of  French  Canada  on  the  south  and  the  scene  of  many 

;  conflicts.  There,  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  Aber- 
crombie  ordered  a  magnificent  British  army  to  slaughter, 
and  was  beaten  by  an  inferior  force  with  a  loss  of  two 
thousand  men.  There  fell  the  gallant  and  capable  Lord 
Howe,  and  there  Campbell  of  Inverawe  struggled  through 
the  tangle  of  fallen  trees  to  meet  the  doom  seen  in  vision 
years  before  on  the  hills  of  Scotland.  A  fatal  field  of 
bloody  memories.  The  ruined  fortress  still  bears  silent 
witness  to  the  wrath  of  man,  but  nature  has  clothed  the 
place  with  abounding  beauty,  and  summer  tourists  linger 
long  on  the  spot  where  lurking  savages  awaited  their 
approaching  victims,  and  where  the  French  bugles  rang 
defiance  for  so  many  years  to  the  assailants  of  New 
France. 

Champlain  gives  an  account  of  the  battle,  and  illus- 
trated it  by  a  drawing,  which  is  interesting,  for  it  shows 


26o    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

that  the  Indians  changed  their  tactics  after  the  introduc- 
tion of  fire-arms.  Here  we  see  compact  bodies  of  men 
advancing  steadily  under  the  lead  of  chiefs,  and  we  see 
the  stockade  which  the  Iroquois  quickly  improvised  when 
they  discovered  their  enemies.  For  the  first  time  they 
encountered  fire-arms,  and  quickly  realised  as  their  two 
leading  chiefs  fell  at  the  first  discharge  of  Champlain's 
arquebuse  that  some  deadly  magical  power  was  before 
them.  The  two  Frenchmen  had  been  sent  to  the  flank 
and  began  to  fire  from  the  woods.  This  completed  their 
discomfiture ;  they  broke  and  fled  before  the  strange  and 
malignant,  power,  and  the  allies  had  an  easy  victory. 
Many  prisoners  were  taken,  and  for  the  first  time  Cham- 
plain  saw  a  captive  tortured  at  the  stake,  and  in  pity  he 
ended  the  poor  creature's  sufferings  by  a  shot.  The  cruel 
customs  of  the  Indians  shocked  him  as  they  have  shocked 
all  Europeans  since.  Yet  torture  at  the  stake  was  com- 
mon then  all  over  Europe,  though  not  for  the  same 
reasons.  The  savages  tortured  their  enemies  only,  and 
as  a  retaliation  for  their  own  losses  and  sufferings. 
Europeans  burned  their  own  countrymen. 

The  expedition  then  returned,  and  on  the  way  Cham- 
plain  learned  much  from  the  prisoners  concerning  the 
country  to  the  south  of  the  water-parting  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence and  Hudson.  The  Indian  allies  separated  at  the 
"  Falls  of  the  Iroquois  "  (Chambly)  for  their  respective 
homes,  Champlain  went  to  Tadoussac  to  confer  with 
Pont-Grave,  and  they  decided  to  return  to  France  and  to 
leave  Capt.  Pierre  de  Chauvin,  Sieur  de  la  Pierre,  of 
Dieppe,  in  charge  of  the  settlement  at  Quebec.  He  was 
of  the  same  family,  probably  nephew  of  Pierre  de  Chau- 
vin, Sieur  de  Tontuit,  who  died  in  1603,  and  who  had 
first  attempted  settlement  at  Tadoussac. 

On  his  arrival  in  France  Champlain  hastened  to  court 
to  meet  De  Monts.  He  narrated  his  adventures  to  King 
Henry,  who  took  great  delight  in  such  matters,  and 
presented  him  with  two  scarlet  tanagers,  a  girdle  of  por- 
cupine quills,  and  the  head  of  a  gar-pike  caught  in  Lake 
Champlain.     But  opposing  interests  were  too  powerful. 


cr  J- 
c  -5 


CHAMPLAIN    IN   QUEBEC      261 

An  extension  of  their  privilege  of  exclusive  trade  could 
not  be  got,  and  De  Monts  and  Champlain  w^ent  down  to 
Rouen  to  consult  with  their  partners  as  to  their  future 
course.  It  was  decided  that  Pont-Grave  should  go  to 
Tadoussac  to  cover  expenses  by  trading,  and  Champlain 
w^as  to  continue  exploration  up  the  St.  Lawrence  with 
the  aid  of  the  Hurons,  whom  he  was  to  assist  in  their 
wars.  On  arrival  at  Quebec  the  following  spring  he  found 
that  everything  had  gone  on  well;  the  winter  had  been 
unusually  mild,  they  had  had  plenty  of  fresh  meat,  and 
consequently  there  had  been  no  sickness.  The  Mon- 
tagnais  had  been  expecting  him  at  Tadoussac,  and,  as 
had  been  arranged  the  year  previous,  went  ahead  of  him 
up  the  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  Richelieu.  The  Hurons 
had  engaged  to  meet  Champlain  there  with  two  hundred 
men,  and  Iroquet,  the  Algonquin  chief,  was  to  bring  two 
hundred  more. 

On  June  19,  1610,  when  Cham  plain's  people  and  the 
Montagnais  were  preparing  to  camp  on  an  island  (prob- 
ably St.  Ignace)  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Richelieu, 
word  came  that  the  Algonquins  were  not  far  off,  and 
were  engaged  with  a  war  party  of  a  hundred  Iroquois 
who  had  built  a  fort  and  that  assistance  was  urgently 
required.  Getting  through  the  woods  and  swamps  with 
much  difficulty,  the  Frenchmen  arrived  before  the  fort 
and  found  that  their  allies  had  been  repulsed  with  loss 
and  that  the  Iroquois  were  holding  out  successfully. 
The  fort  was  circular,  built  of  large  trees  piled  one  upon 
another,  and  afforded  perfect  shelter  to  the  garrison. 
Champlain  was  wounded  in  the  neck  by  an  arrow  as  he 
was  firing  his  first  shot,  but  he  continued  in  action  and 
directed  an  assault  upon  the  stockade.  A  few  inde- 
pendent fur  traders  who  had  gone  to  the  rendezvous  on 
their  own  account  joined  in,  and  the  fort  was  carried. 
The  Iroquois  tried  to  escape,  but  were  all  killed  or 
captured. 

After  the  battle  trading  commenced,  and  to  Cham- 
plain's  disgust  the  private  traders  carried  off  most  of  the 
peltries.     "  It  was  a  great  service  to  them,"  he  writes, 


262    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

"  to  find  out  a  strange  people  in  order  that  others  should, 
without  risk  or  danger,  carry  off  the  profit."  The  next 
day  the  chief  Iroquet  arrived,  and  another  band  of  Hu- 
rons.  Three  days  were  spent  together  on  the  island,  when 
each  tribe  returned  to  its  own  country.  Champlain  took 
with  him  a  Huron  youth  to  be  sent  to  France,  and  he  left 
with  the  Algonquins  a  young  French  boy,  of  whom  we 
shall  hear  later,  to  go  to  their  country  and  learn  the 
language.  The  year  1610  passed  without  any  further 
enterprises,  for  while  Pont-Grave  and  Champlain  were 
consulting  upon  their  plans  for  the  winter,  news  arrived 
of  the  assassination  of  their  patron,  Henry  IV.,  and 
they  both  returned  to  France.  A  palisade  had  been 
erected  during  the  summer  to  protect  the  buildings  at 
Quebec,  and  Du  Pare,  who  had  spent  the  previous  winter 
with  Chauvin,  was  left  in  command  of  the  settlement. 

Champlain  sailed  again  for  New  France  from  Honfleur 
on  March  i,  161 1,  but  gained  nothing  by  so  early  a  start, 
for  he  got  into  the  ice  and  passed  through  many  dangers, 
arriving  at  Tadoussac  only  on  May  13.  On  the  17th  he 
set  out  up  the  river  to  the  Sault  (Montreal)  to  meet 
the  Indians  from  the  Ottawa,  as  arranged  the  year  before. 
He  stopped  at  Quebec  to  repair  his  shallop,  and  found 
that  there  had  been  no  sickness,  and  that  during  the 
winter  everything  had  gone  on  well.  He  arrived  at  the 
Sault  on  May  28  with  the  Huron  he  had  taken  to  France, 
but  the  Indians  had  not  arrived.  He  examined  the 
locality  with  great  care,  with  the  view  of  founding  another 
settlement,  and  decided  that  the  most  suitable  spot  was 
what  is  now  called  Pointe  a  Callieres,  and  there  he 
ordered  the  trees  to  be  cut  down  and  a  clearing  made.  It 
is  the  centre  of  the  present  city  of  Montreal.  The  Custom 
House  now  stands  upon  the  site  he  chose,  and  the  Mon- 
treal ocean  steamships  discharge  their  cargoes  there.  A 
little  river,  now  covered  in  and  utilised  for  drainage,  fell 
in  at  that  point,  and  on  its  banks  were  the  clearings  culti- 
vated by  the  Hochelagans  of  Cartier  before  the  great  war 
drove  them  westwards.  He  found  the  deposit  of  blue 
clay  on  the  upper  levels  of  the  present  city,  and  tested  it 


CHAMPLAIN    IN   QUEBEC      263 

by  making  bricks,  with  which  he  built  a  wall  to  see  the 
effect  of  the  ice  and  high  water  of  winter  The  river 
broadened  there  to  an  expanse  like  a  lake,  and  south  of 
the  rapids  were  beautiful  prairies  at  the  place  still  called 
La  Prairie  de  la  Madelaine.  While  the  party  waited  for 
the  Indians  and  explored  the  country  around,  they  heard 
of  an  island  in  the  rapids  where  there  were  so  many 
herons  that  the  air  was  darkened  with  them.  A  keen 
sportsman,  servant  to  Champlain,  called  Louis,  contrived 
to  reach  the  spot  in  the  middle  of  the  rapids,  but  he  over- 
loaded his  canoe  with  birds,  and  was  drowned.  The 
island  is  still  called  Isle  aux  Herons,  and  the  Grand  Sault 
commenced  from  that  time  to  be  called  Sault  St.  Louis — 
a  name  it  still  bears. 

On  the  13th  of  June  a  large  party  of  Indians  arrived. 
They  expected  to  meet  Champlain  only,  but  besides  his 
boats  they  found  a  swarm  of  independent  fur  traders 
who  came  up  for  their  own  profit,  without  care  or  respon- 
sibility for  anything  beyond.  Later  on  people  such  as 
these  made  a  pandemonium  on  the  river  by  selling  the 
savages  brandy  and  fire-arms,  until  wholesome  restric- 
tions of  trade  were  again  enforced.  The  Indians  dis- 
trusted the  traders,  and  moved  their  camp  to  the  Lake  of 
Two  Mountains,  where  the  shallops  could  not  go,  and 
they  invited  Champlain  to  a  midnight  council.  They 
renewed  their  alliance  with  him  and  Pont-Grave.  The 
Frenchman  who  had  wintered  with  the  Hurons,  and  the 
Huron  who  had  wintered  in  Paris,  related  their  experi- 
ences and  acted  as  interpreters.  The  Indians  promised 
to  show  the  wonders  of  the  upper  country  to  Champlain 
or  anyone  he  would  send  with  them.  The  result  was 
that  the  chief  Iroquet  took  with  him  as  far  as  the  Petite 
Nation  a  youth  from  one  of  the  trading  barques,  and  the 
Algonquins  of  Allumette  Island,  on  the  upper  Ottawa, 
took  a  youth  from  Champlain's  party  who,  like  Ananias, 
is  remembered  in  history  for  his  effrontery  as  a  liar. 
Champlain  returned  to  France  and  arrived  at  La  Rochelle 
on  September  i6,  1611. 

New  difficulties  arose,  which  De  Monts  and  Champlain 


264    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

could  not  overcome,  and  the  latter  had  to  stay  over  the 
following  year  in  France,  to  the  great  disappointment  of 
the  Indians,  who  came  down  to  the  Sault  St.  Louis  to 
meet  him.  Champlain's  men  told  them  he  would  come 
the  following  year,  but  the  free  traders  asserted  loudly 
that  he  was  dead.  In  France  the  shareholders  in  De 
Mont's  company  very  naturally  refused  to  go  on  with  an 
enterprise  when  all  the  risk  was  theirs  and  the  profits 
were  gathered  by  others.  De  Monts  bought  out  their 
shares  and  left  the  management  to  Champlain,  who,  see- 
ing that  the  death  of  Henry  IV.  had  changed  the  channels 
of  court  influence,  arranged  that  the  Count  de  Soissons 
should  be  head  of  the  company.  That  nobleman,  how- 
ever, died  shortly  afterwards  and  the  Prince  de  Conde 
took  his  place.  He  appointed  Champlain  as  his  lieuten- 
ant, and  a  commission  of  exclusive  trade  was  granted  for 
twelve  years.  The  old  free  trade  cry  was  raised  again, 
and  the  Parliament  of  Rouen  thrice  refused  to  register 
the  papers.  At  last  it  was  compelled  to  do  so,  and  in 
response  to  the  clamour  of  the  merchants  they  were  told 
if  they  wanted  profits  to  take  shares  in  the  company, 
which  was  open  to  all.  "  It  is  not  reasonable,"  argued 
Champlain,  "  that  one  should  capture  the  lamb  and  an- 
other go  off  with  the  fleece."  The  opposition  from  St. 
Malo  was  very  strong,  and  the  Breton  merchants  claimed 
the  trade  because  of  the  discovery  of  the  country  by  their 
countryman  Cartier.  From  about  this  period  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Bretons  in  Canada  began  to  wane  and  the 
Norman  ports  took  the  lead  in  the  trade,  A  movement 
towards  colonisation  commenced,  and  the  colonists  were 
nearly  all  from  Normandy. 

On  March  6,  1613,  Champlain  sailed  from  Honfleur 
with  Pont-Grave,  and  after  a  short  stay  at  Tadoussac  he 
arrived  at  Quebec  on  May  7,  where  he  found  everything 
to  his  satisfaction.  The  winter  had  been  mild.  The 
river  had  remained  open  and  everyone  had  kept  in  good 
health.  On  the  21st  he  arrived  at  the  Sault  St.  Louis 
(Montreal).  The  results  of  the  free  trade  clamoured  for 
by  the  merchants  were  evident.     There  were  no  Indians 


CHAMPLAIN    IN   QUEBEC      265 

there.  They  had  been  disgusted  with  the  ill-treatment 
they  had  received  from  the  traders,  who  had  also  told 
them  falsehoods  about  Champlain,  and  said  that  he 
would  never  return.  This  decided  Champlain  to  push 
his  explorations  further  up  the  river  of  the  Algonquins 
(Ottawa),  and  seek  the  Indians  in  their  own  homes. 
The  young  man,  Vignau,  whom  he  had  sent  with  the 
Algonquins  in  i6ii,  had  wintered  with  them  at  Allumette 
Island,  and  had  returned  to  France  in  the  fall  of  1612. 
He  there  reported  that  he  had  seen  the  Northern  Sea, 
that  the  river  took  its  rise  in  a  lake  which  also  com- 
municated with  the  sea,  that  he  had  seen  the  wreck  of 
an  English  ship  on  the  shore,  that  he  had  seen  the  scalps 
of  eighty  Englishmen  whom  the  Indians  had  killed,  and 
that  there  was  a  young  English  boy  still  a  captive  among 
them.  All  this  was  absolutely  false,  but  he  swore  to  it, 
and  added  such  details  that  Champlain  laid  the  matter 
before  the  leading  men  of  the  company  in  Paris,  and 
they  instructed  him  to  follow  up  the  clew  and  discover 
the  great  northern  sea.  The  story  seemed  to  be  con- 
firmed by  the  news  of  Hudson's  discovery  of  the  Bay, — 
brought  to  England  in  1612  by  the  mutineers, — and  the 
report  of  the  expedition  under  Sir  Thomas  Button,  sent 
to  rescue  him  in  the  same  year. 

With  four  Frenchmen,  one  of  whom  was  Vignau,  and 
with  one  savage  as  guide,  Champlain  started  from  St. 
Helen's  Island,  opposite  Montreal,  on  May  27,  1613,  with 
two  canoes.  He  carried  them  over  the  portage  to  Lake 
St.  Louis,  and  from  there  commenced  his  memorable 
exploration  of  the  Ottawa,  then  called  the  River  of  the 
Algonquins,  and  later  the  Grand  River.  Passing  through 
Lake  St.  Louis  he  noticed  three  rivers  falling  into  it — one 
from  the  Iroquois  territory  at  the  south  (the  Chateau- 
guay),  another  from  the  Huron  territory  from  the  west 
(the  St.  Lawrence),  and  the  third,  which  he  followed  to 
the  north  (Ottawa),  from  the  country  of  the  Algon- 
quins and  Nipissings  (Nebicerini).  He  made  a  short 
portage  (Ste.  Anne's)  the  same  day,  and  spent  the  night 
upon  one  of  the  small  islands  just  above  the  rapids.     The 


266    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

following  day  (May  31,  161 3)  was  spent  in  passing 
through  the  tranquil  reaches  of  the  Lake  of  Two  Moun- 
tains,— he  called  it  Lac  de  Soissons, — but  on  June  i  he 
arrived  at  the  Long  Sault,  a  series  of  rapids  now  over- 
come by  the  Carillon  and  Grenville  canals — twelve  miles 
of  very  turbulent  water.  Here  he  narrowly  escaped  death, 
for  the  woods  were  so  dense  they  could  not  carry  their 
canoes  by  land,  and  they  had  to  pull  them  up  the  stream 
with  ropes.  There  was  only  one  Indian  in  the  party,  and 
the  Frenchmen  were  awkward  at  managing  canoes  in 
such  difficult  water.  His  canoe  dragged  him  in,  and  if 
he  had  not  fallen  between  two  rocks,  he  would  have  been 
drowned.  The  rope  was  twisted  round  his  wrist,  and 
he  was  seriously  hurt,  but  held  on  to  his  canoe.  This 
experience  at  the  Chute  a  Blondeau  gave  him  a  severe 
lesson  in  the  art  of  canoeing.  Two  years  before,  shortly 
after  his  servant  Louis  was  drowned,  Champlain  insisted 
upon  the  Indians  taking  him  down  the  Sault  St.  Louis, 
but  they  made  him  strip  to  his  shirt,  and  warned  him  to 
hang  on  to  his  canoe  if  it  should  upset.  He  ran  the 
Lachine  rapids  in  safety,  but  it  was  the  Indians  who  man- 
aged the  canoe.  He  had  courage  enough  for  anything, 
but  to  track  a  canoe  up  the  Long  Sault  of  the  Ottawa 
required  skill,  and  after  they  had  got  up  they  rested  for 
the  remainder  of  that  day,  "  having  done  enough."  The 
following  day  he  met  a  party  of  Algonquins  on  their  way 
down,  and  he  changed  off  the  most  awkward  Frenchman 
of  his  party  for  an  Indian  guide  to  manage  the  second 
canoe.  Continuing  on  along  the  north  bank  the  Petite 
Nation  River  attracted  his  notice  by  the  islands  and  the 
beautiful  woods  near  it.  This  part  of  the  Ottawa  country 
was  the  hunting  ground  of  the  "  Little  Algonquins."  and 
the  river  is  called  the  Little  Nation  River  to  this  day 
(Petite  Nation). 

It  was  the  4th  of  June,  1613,  w^hen  Champlain  reached 
the  site  of  the  capital  of  the  Dominion — Ottawa.  He 
mentions  a  river  with  a  countless  number  of  falls  (the 
Gatineau),  from  the  north,  and  just  opposite,  falling  in 
from  the  south,  another  at  whose  mouth  is  a  marvellous 


CHAMPLAIN    IN   QUEBEC      267 

fall,  making  an  arch  under  which  the  savages  delight  to 
go.  The  French  called  it,  in  after  years,  the  Rideau 
(curtain) — a  descriptive  name;  for  the  river  flows 
smoothly  over,  and  even  now,  disfigured  as  it  is  by  saw- 
mills, enough  remains  of  its  pristine  beauty  to  suggest  the 
features  which  attracted  attention  in  those  early  years, 
when  issuing  out  of  a  dense  background  of  pine  forest  it 
fell  in  a  curtain  of  white  foam  over  the  bank  and  into 
the  main  river.  It  must  have  been  a  very  beautiful  spot, 
for  the  fur  trader  Henry  speaks  of  it  when  passing  up  in 
1 761 :  "  The  fall  presented  itself  to  my  view  with  extraor- 
dinary beauty  and  magnificence  and  decorated  with 
a  variety  of  colours."  A  league  farther  up,  "  rowing 
against  a  strong  current,"  they  reached  the  (Chaudiere) 
falls,  where  the  main  Ottawa  drops  forty  feet  between 
many  little  rocky  islands  covered  with  brushwood.  In 
one  place  he  observes  that  the  falling  water  had  hollowed 
out  a  large  and  deep  basin,  round  which  it  forms  swift 
eddies.  The  natives,  he  adds,  call  this  Asticou — the 
kettle.  The  French  translated  the  word,  and  the  falls  are 
called  Chaudiere  (Kettle)  Falls  to  this  day.  The  chasm 
in  the  rock  may  still  be  seen,  and  the  sound  of  falling 
water,  which  Champlain  heard  two  leagues  away,  still 
soothes  the  ear  on  a  calm  evening.  The  islands  are  all 
bridged  and  built  over,  but  even  yet,  cribbed  and  confined 
though  it  is  with  sawmills  and  paper  mills  and  other 
factories,  the  great  "  Kettle  "  foams  and  steams  before 
the  eyes  of  every  visitor  to  Parliament  Hill,  an  object  of 
admiration,  though  its  wild  forest  setting  has  disappeared. 
The  carrying  place  (portage)  at  the  fall  was  short; 
only  a  quarter  of  a  league,  says  Champlain.  According 
to  Mackenzie  it  was  643  paces,  and  Henry  says  a  quarter 
of  a  mile,  over  smooth  rock,  though  to  Champlain's 
unaccustomed  efiforts  the  rock  seemed  rough  enough. 
The  Recollet  Sagard,  in  passing  this  portage  a  few  years 
later,  made  the  first  palseontological  observation  on  record 
in  Canada,  for  he  remarked  the  fucoids  in  the  Trenton 
Limestone,  and  took  them  to  be  slugs  petrified  by  the 
cool  spray.     Champlain  had  to  make  a  second  portage, 


268    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

higher  up,  of  about  three  hundred  paces  (the  fur  traders 
with  heavily  laden  canoes  used  to  make  three),  and  then 
he  entered  a  lake  now  called  Lake  des  Chenes,  from  the 
oak  trees  at  the  third  portage — a  long  stretch  of  quiet 
water  until  the  Chats  rapids  were  reached.  Here  the 
river  falls  over  a  long  circular  ridge  of  rock  in  a  fall 
interrupted  by  islands,  and  forms  a  series  of  foaming 
falls  looking  like  banks  of  white  snow  around  a  curve 
two  miles  long  of  forest.  At  that  spot  he  lightened  his 
burden  by  leaving  the  least  necessary  food  and  clothing, 
trusting  to  hunting  and  fishing  for  support.  The  falls 
and  lake  are  now  known  as  "  Des  Chats,"  from  the 
number  of  raccoons  (chats  sauvages)  which  were  found 
in  the  vicinity. 

He  continued  up  the  river,  noting  everything  out  of 
the  usual  course.  The  mosquitoes  troubled  him  more 
than  the  portages.  He  writes  "  their  persistency  is  so 
marvellous  that  one  cannot  describe  it,"  and  no  doubt, 
as  he  scrambled  over  the  portages,  although  he  was 
"  laden  only  with  three  arquebuses,  three  paddles,  his 
cloak,  and  some  small  articles,"  the  flies  availed  them- 
selves of  the  novel  chance  at  a  European  skin.  He  passed 
a  river  (the  Madawaska),  where  a  people  dwelt  called 
Matou-ouescarini,  and,  having  left  the  main  river  to 
avoid  the  heavy  rapids,  he  found  a  number  of  savages 
settled  at  Muskrat  Lake,  who  gave  them  a  kind  reception 
and  sent  some  people  to  assist  them  and  guide  them  to 
Allumette  Island,  where  they  regained  the  Ottawa. 

Allumette  Island,  where  Champlain  now  arrived,  fig- 
ured largely  in  the  early  history  of  Canada.  It  was  the 
stronghold  of  the  greater  Algonquins  as  distinguished 
from  La  Petite  Nation,  who  hunted  near  the  site  of  the 
present  capital.  Their  chief  Tessouat  (who  had  met 
Champlain  at  Tadoussac  in  1603)  was  an  important  per- 
sonage, and  as  the  river  all  round  the  island  was  broken 
by  rapids  he  availed  himself  of  its  unique  position  to  levy 
toll  on  the  western  Indians  on  their  way  down  the  river  to 
dispose  of  their  furs.  He  received  Champlain  very  cor- 
dially, and  made  a  great  feast  (tabagie)  in  his  honour. 


CHAMPLAIN   IN   QUEBEC      269 

after  which  a  formal  council  was  held.  Champlain  told 
them  that  he  had  come  with  the  intention  of  going  to 
visit  the  Nebicerini  (Nipissings),  and  that  he  wanted 
four  canoes  with  eight  savages  as  guides.  Tessouat, 
as  spokesman  for  his  people,  replied  that  while  Cham- 
plain  had  always  shown  himself  their  friend,  and  had 
gone  with  them  to  war,  he  had  not  kept  his  promise  and 
met  them  at  the  Sault  (Montreal)  the  year  before.  Two 
thousand  of  their  people  had  gone  there,  and  were  not 
only  disappointed  at  not  seeing  him,  but  had  been  badly 
treated  by  the  French  traders,  and  had  decided  not  to  go 
there  again.  Moreover,  that  the  Nipissings  were  sorcer- 
ers, and  that  they  were  cowardly,  and  were  no  help  in 
war,  but  would  kill  them  by  charms  and  poisons,  and 
also  that  the  way  was  long  and  difficult.  Champlain 
reproached  them  for  unfriendliness,  and  brought  for- 
ward Vignau,  who  had  wintered  with  them  in  i6ii,  who 
insisted  that  he  had  visited  the  Nipissings;  and  then 
Champlain  told  them  Vignau's  story  of  the  North  Sea, 
and  the  wrecked  English  ships,  and  the  eighty  English 
scalps,  and  the  English  captive.  This  tissue  of  lies  scan- 
dalised the  Indians,  and  they  were  eager  to  put  Vignau 
to  death.  At  last,  confronted  with  the  indignant  savages, 
Vignau  broke  down  and  confessed  that  he  had  never  left 
Tessouat's  Island,  and  that  the  whole  story  was  false  from 
end  to  end.  Champlain  was  greatly  disturbed,  for  this 
journey  to  the  North  Sea  had  been  concerted  at  Paris 
with  the  leading  men  of  the  company  on  the  strength  of 
Vignau's  reports.  It  is  the  only  instance  in  Champlain's 
record  when  his  even  temper  was  ruffled,  and  although 
Vignau  was  eventually  pardoned,  his  position  for  a  short 
time  was  critical. 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  return,  and  he 
started  for  the  Sault  (Montreal),  but  with  a  retinue  of 
forty  canoes,  increased  on  the  way  to  sixty.  Nothing 
occurred  to  be  noted,  excepting  that  they  stopped  at  the 
Chaudiere  Falls  (at  Ottawa)  to  perform  a  ceremony, 
immemorial  among  them,  of  propitiating  the  presiding 
spirit  of  the  place.     All  assembled  in  one  spot  and  took 


270    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

up  a  collection  on  a  wooden  plate.  Each  savage  put  in 
a  little  piece  of  tobacco.  They  then  put  the  plate  in  the 
middle  of  the  group  and  danced  around  it,  singing  in 
their  usual  style;  after  which  one  of  the  chiefs  made  an 
address,  and  when  that  was  over  he  emptied  the  plate 
into  the  Chaudiere.  Their  religious  instincts  being  satis- 
fied they  passed  down  to  Montreal.  There,  besides  some 
boats  belonging  to  the  company,  they  found  the  Sieur  de 
IMaisonneuve  of  St.  Malo.  He  had  procured  a  permit 
from  the  Prince  de  Conde  to  bring  out  three  vessels.  It 
is  a  name  to  be  ever  remembered  in  Montreal,  for  twenty- 
nine  years  later  Paul  de  Chomedey,  Sieur  de  Maisonneuve, 
founded  the  city.  Until  then  it  was  only  a  fur  trading 
centre  for  a  few  weeks  in  summer,  where  the  Indians 
from  the  west  and  north  congregated  to  meet  the  French 
trading  boats.  Here,  before  assembled  white  men  and 
savages,  Vignau  made  an  open  confession  of  his  false- 
hoods, for  the  object  of  Champlain's  voyage  was  known 
to  all  connected  with  the  company.  The  Indians  took 
back  with  them  two  young  men  at  Champlain's  request, 
but  none  of  them  would  have  anything  to  do  with 
Vignau.     Champlain  then  sailed  for  France. 

There  was  much  for  him  to  do — much  that  only  he 
could  do,  for  in  all  the  tangle  of  conflicting  interests  and 
court  intrigues  he  was  the  only  man  with  a  single  eye  for 
the  good  of  France,  the  advancement  of  exploration,  and 
the  social  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  savages.  He  will- 
ingly left  the  trading  to  others — he  wanted  nothing  for 
himself  but  his  narrow  salary.  Pont-Grave  managed 
the  commercial  part  of  the  enterprise ;  he  assumed  for 
his  share  the  cares  of  the  infant  colony,  the  labours  of  ex- 
ploration, and  the  risks  of  warfare.  Upon  his  noble  and 
unselfish  devotion  was  built  the  colony  of  New  France, 
and  in  years  long  after  it  fell  by  the  greed,  luxury,  and 
corruption  of  men  who  embodied  the  negation  of  every- 
thing he  held  dear.  His  first  care  was  to  conciliate  the 
jarring  interests  of  the  merchants  by  pointing  out  that  no 
one  could  be  benefited  by  the  reckless  competition  which 
was  their  only  wisdom.     By  personal  efforts  with  the 


CHAMPLAIN    IN   QUEBEC      271 

court  and  the  Prince  of  Conde,  and  by  personal  represen- 
tations to  the  merchants  of  the  maritime  cities,  he  matured 
the  plan  of  a  company,  with  an  exclusive  charter  for 
eleven  years,  but  open  to  all  to  join — one-third  of  the 
stock  to  be  held  in  Normandy,  one-third  in  Bretagne,  and 
one-third  in  La  Rochelle.  The  Rochellois  delayed  until 
the  time  set  had  expired,  when  the  Normans  and  Bretons 
divided  their  third  between  them.  Champlain  then 
turned  his  attention  to  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  sav- 
ages, and  arranged  with  the  Recollets  (a  branch  of  the 
Franciscan  Order)  to  send  out  four  brothers  to  make  a 
commencement  of  a  mission ;  he  himself  obtained  contri- 
butions for  the  expense  and  procured  the  requisite  ecclesi- 
astical authority.  At  last  everything  was  ready,  and  on 
April  24,  161 5,  he  sailed  with  the  friars  in  the  St.  Etienne 
from  Honfleur  under  the  command  of  Pont-Grave. 

With  the  arrival  of  these  four  Recollet  fathers  com- 
mences the  era  of  Catholic  missions  in  Canada.  Up  to 
that  time  the  Huguenot  influence  had  been  very  strong  in 
the  councils  of  the  trading  and  colonising  companies. 
Many  of  the  merchants  of  Normandy  were  Huguenots, 
and  if  the  wrong-headed  burghers  of  La  Rochelle  had 
taken  up  the  shares  reserved  for  them,  the  Huguenot 
influence  would  have  maintained  its  ground.  The  mer- 
chants had  never  taken  any  interest  in  the  colonisation  of 
the  country,  but  looked  upon  it  as  a  field  for  trade,  and  in 
that  respect  they  were  not  in  sympathy  with  Champlain, 
who,  apart  from  his  interest  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
savages,  felt  that  the  work  of  the  missionaries  would  lead 
to  the  opening  up  of  trade  in  the  interior.  The  Hugue- 
nots lost  their  lead,  and  the  religious  orders  of  the 
Catholic  Church  took  up  at  that  juncture  the  work  of 
missionary  exploration,  and  by  the  natural  sequence  of 
events  Canada  became  a  Catholic  country. 

A  large  number  of  Indians  had  assembled  at  the  Sault 
St.  Louis,  and  when  Champlain  arrived  they  reminded 
him  of  his  promise  to  assist  in  their  wars.  After  con- 
sultation with  Pont-Grave  he  decided  to  join  them  in 
another  expedition,   and  so  obtain  an  opening  for  the 


272    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

exploration  of  the  upper  country.  The  Indians  promised 
to  gather  2500  men,  and  Champlain  was  to  supply  as 
many  Frenchmen  as  he  could.  Leaving  most  of  his 
people  behind,  he  started  for  Quebec  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  an  absence  which  would  probably  extend  over 
three  or  four  months.  When  he  returned  to  the  Sault 
the  Indians  had  all  gone  home,  taking  with  them  the 
Recollet,  Father  Le  Caron,  and  the  twelve  Frenchmen 
who  were  to  assist  on  the  expedition.  They  had  grown 
impatient  and  supposed  that  Champlain  would  not  return, 
or  that  he  had  been  captured  on  the  way  by  the  Iroquois. 
Champlain  at  once  started  off  with  two  Frenchmen  and 
ten  savages  to  follow  into  the  region  now  known  as  the 
Province  of  Ontario. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

CHAMPLAIN   IN  ONTARIO 

WE  have  followed  Champlain  in  his  explora- 
tions in  the  present  provinces  of  Nova 
Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  Quebec.  As 
stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  in  the  year 
1615  he  entered  the  Province  of  Ontario,  and  before 
he  returned  he  had  explored  all  the  older  part  of  the 
province  except  the  Niagara  peninsula.  He  followed 
up  the  Ottawa  in  the  track  of  the  returning  Indians 
to  Allumette  Island,  where  he  had  been  in  1613,  and 
passed  through  what  he  called  the  Lake  of  Algon- 
quins  (Lac  des  Allumettes),  and  up  the  Deep  River  and 
the  stream  beyond  until  he  reached  the  Mattawa.  There 
he  branched  to  the  left  and  followed  that  river  up  to  its 
head.  Thence  by  a  short  portage  he  crossed  over  to  Lake 
Nipissing,  and  followed  down  the  French  River,  its  outlet, 
into  the  Georgian  Bay  of  Lake  Huron.  The  route  looks 
easier  upon  the  map  than  it  is  in  reality,  for  there  are 
many  falls  and  rapids  to  be  overcome  only  by  laborious 
portages ;  nevertheless,  it  continued  to  be  the  fur  traders' 
highroad  to  the  west  until  the  days  of  steamboat  naviga- 
tion. In  the  early  years  of  the  colony  it  was  beyond  the 
usual  reach  of  Iroquois  war  parties,  and  it  is,  in  fact,  the 
shortest  and  most  direct  course  to  Lake  Superior,  for 
from  the  Strait  of  Michilimackinac  to  the  head  of  tide 
water,  at  Lake  St.  Peter,  below  Montreal,  is  an  absolutely 
due  east  line — the  parallel  of  46°  N.  On  the  French 
River  he  met  a  party  of  the  Cheveux  Releves — a  people 
who  went  absolutely  naked,  but  were  very  particular 
about  their  hair,  which  they  dressed  high  up  on  their 
heads  with  great  pains.  They  were  afterwards  known 
to  the  English  as  the  Ottawas,  and  the  river  derived  its 

273 


274    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

name  from  them  in  after  years.  In  fact,  they  claimed  an 
especial  right  in  the  river,  for  they  used  it  for  trade  more 
continuously  than  the  other  tribes. 

The  Huron  nation,  whose  homes  Champlain  was  now 
to  visit,  had  been  driven  from  their  original  seat  at  Mont- 
real and  Quebec  by  the  incessant  incursions  of  the  Iro- 
quois. They  were  the  elder  branch  of  the  main  stock  of 
the  Huron-Iroquois  race,  and  their  language  more  closely 
resembled  the  Mohawk  dialect  than  the  other  dialects  of 
the  Iroquois  league.  The  French  afterwards,  because 
they  wore  their  hair  in  a  ridge,  called  them  Hurons,  and 
the  name  clung  to  them  and  was  applied  to  the  lake  on 
which  they  dwelt.  If  we  are  to  believe  the  dim  traditions 
of  their  tribe,  the  cause  of  all  their  "  unnumbered  woes  " 
originated  with  a  woman.  The  war  which  followed  was 
internecine,  demanding  the  absolute  extinction  of  one  or 
the  other  nation.  Fortune  was  against  the  Hurons,  and, 
making  friends  with  the  alien  tribes  of  Algonquins  on  the 
Ottawa,  they  retired  to  a  region  in  the  west,  beyond,  as 
they  hoped,  the  reach  of  Iroquois  war  parties.  Like 
the  Iroquois,  they  were  sedentary  tribes,  living  in  villages 
and  drawing  much  of  their  support  from  the  cultivation 
of  the  soil.  Rough  and  primitive  as  was  their  agriculture, 
it  raised  them  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding  Algon- 
quins, who  were  hunters,  and  for  the  most  part  had  no 
settled  abodes.  The  French  found  the  Hurons  dwelling 
in  a  fertile  territory  south  of  the  River  Severn,  and  be- 
tween Lake  Simcoe  and  Nottawassaga  Bay,  approxi- 
mately corresponding  to  the  present  county  of  Simcoe. 
In  that  comparatively  narrow  territory  there  was  a  pop- 
ulation variously  estimated  at  from  twelve  to  thirty 
thousand  souls,  living  in  towns  and  villages  estimated  to 
be  thirty-two  in  number.  These  were  connected  by  well- 
worn  trails,  and  the  density  of  the  population  may  be 
gathered  from  the  fact  that  in  three  days  Champlain 
visited  five  villages.  The  towns  on  the  southern  margin 
of  the  territory  were  fortified  after  the  manner  of  Hoche- 
laga,  as  seen  by  Jacques  Cartier.  The  drawing  from 
Ramusio,  given  at  page  167,  shows  a  perfectly  circular 


CHAMPLAIN   IN   ONTARIO     275 

rampart,  and  was  doubtless  made  from  the  description  in 
the  text.  The  cut  following-,  at  page  278,  is  from  a  draw- 
ing by  Champlain  of  the  Onondaga  town  he  assisted  to 
attack.  It  is  a  type  of  all  the  fortified  towns  of  the 
Huron-Iroquois  tribes.  At  one  of  these  towns,  Carha- 
gouha,  there  was  a  warm  welcome,  for  Father  Le 
Caron  had  settled  there,  and  with  him  were  the  twelve 
Frenchmen  of  his  party.  These  with  Champlain  and  his 
two  men  made  a  good  congregation,  and  the  happy  priest 
celebrated  for  the  occasion  the  first  mass  in  the  Province 
of  Ontario. 

After  issuing  from  French  River  upon  Lake  Huron, 
Champlain's  course  was  south  along  the  shores  of  the 
region  now  known  as  the  counties  of  Parry  Sound  and 
]\Iuskoka.  He  crossed  Matchedash  Bay  and  landed  not 
far  from  the  present  town  of  Midland  in  Simcoe  county. 
It  was  in  the  territory  of  the  Attigouautan,  a  sub-tribe 
under  the  totem  of  the  Bear,  the  chief  of  the  four  tribes 
constituting  the  Huron  nation,  and  from  them  at  first 
Champlain  called  the  lake,  but  afterwards  he  named  it 
the  Mer  Douce  (Freshwater  Sea).  From  thence  he  went 
from  town  to  town,  everywhere  received  with  welcome 
and  feasted  with  a  greater  joy  inasmuch  as  they  thought 
he  had  been  taken  by  the  Iroquois.  They  had  given  up 
all  hope  of  seeing  him  again,  and  had  postponed  their 
intended  war  party ;  now  they  commenced  anew  to 
assemble  their  forces,  and  in  the  meantime  he  examined 
the  country.  He  found  great  quantities  of  Indian  corn 
(maize)  and  squashes  growing.  Sunflowers  grew  also 
in  abundance,  from  the  seed  of  which  they  extracted  oil. 
He  noted  the  soil,  which  he  says  is  a  little  sandy, 
but  good  for  Indian  corn,  and  he  comments  on  many 
other  productions  of  the  country  around.  He  remained 
longer  with  the  Arendaronons,  or  tribe  of  the  Rock, 
than  with  the  others.  They  dwelt  at  the  outlet  of  Lake 
Couchiching,  and  were  especially  friendly  with  the 
French. 

Meantime  the  warriors  were  gathering,  and  news  kept 
coming  in  from  all  sides.     Word  came  that  a  kindred 


276    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

people  beyond  the  Iroquois,  to  the  south,  were  preparing 
five  hundred  men  to  take  part  in  the  proposed  attack. 
These  were  the  Andastes  (called  also  Conestogas  and 
Susquehannocks),  who  dwelt  on  the  head-waters  of  the 
Susquehanna  River  in  Pennsylvania.  They  also,  though 
kindred  in  race,  were  enemies  of  the  Iroquois.  They  had 
come  into  contact  with  the  Dutch,  who  had  just  made  the 
beginning  of  a  settlement  in  the  Mohawk  territory  near 
Albany  on  the  Hudson  and  were  in  close  alliance  with 
the  Iroquois. 

At  last,  early  in  September,  everything  was  ready  and 
the  great  war  party  started.  They  passed  through  Lake 
Simcoe,  then  carried  their  canoes  over  the  portage  trail 
to  Balsam  Lake,  from  thence  down  the  Otonabee  River, 
passing  the  site  of  Peterborough,  to  Rice  Lake.  From  the 
extreme  end  of  Rice  Lake  the  River  Trent  flows  south- 
wards, and  they  followed  it  down  to  the  Bay  of  Quinte, 
where,  at  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Trenton,  they 
issued  out  upon  the  waters  of  Lake  Ontario.  The  route 
is  much  broken  by  falls  and  rapids,  but  in  recent  years  it 
has  been  improved  by  canals  and  other  aids  to  navigation, 
under  the  general  name  of  the  Trent  River  Navigation 
System. 

Two  of  the  great  lakes  were  now  discovered.  Father 
Le  Caron  had  reached  Lake  Huron  before  him,  but 
Champlain  was  the  first  white  man,  excepting,  perhaps, 
Etienne  Brule,  to  dip  a  paddle  into  Lake  Ontario.  The 
war  party  followed  along  the  north  shore  to  the  eastern 
end  of  the  lake,  where  there  "  are  many  large  and  beauti- 
ful islands,"  but  the  point  where  they  crossed  is  not  pre- 
cisely ascertained,  nor  is  it  absolutely  certain  where  they 
landed  upon  the  south  shore.  There  they  hid  their 
canoes  in  the  woods,  and  for  four  days  marched  by  land 
until  they  crossed  a  river  containing  some  fine  islands, 
which  discharges  a  large  lake.  The  place  is  easily  identi- 
fied as  Oneida  River  and  Lake.  They  were  striking  at 
the  very  heart  of  the  confederacy,  at  the  country  of  the 
Onondagas,  where  burned  the  central  council  fire  of  the 
formidable  league  of  the  Five  Nations. 


CHAMPLAIN    IN   ONTARIO     277 

The  Iroquois  confederacy  at  that  time  occupied  the 
southern  water-parting  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and 
Lake  Ontario,  from  Lake  Champlain  on  the  east  to  the 
Genesee  River  on  the  west.  They  commanded  the  head- 
waters of  the  Hudson,  Delaware,  and  Susquehanna 
rivers,  and  their  war  parties  had  depopulated  an  enor- 
mous extent  of  adjacent  territory.  The  league  was  com- 
posed of  five  tribes,  and  was  at  first  called  the  Five 
Nations  by  the  English.  In  after  years  the  Tuscaroras, 
a  kindred  tribe  from  North  Carolina,  took  refuge  with 
them,  and  thereafter  they  were  known  as  the  Six  Nations. 
The  idea  of  an  offensive  and  defensive  league  in  per- 
petuity originated  in  the  mind  of  Hiawatha,  not  a  myth- 
ical person,  but  a  real  historical  character,  around 
whose  name  many  myths  have  gathered.  One  such  myth 
is  embodied  in  Longfellow's  beautiful  poem,  for  it  is 
absolutely  certain  that  Hiawatha  was  not  an  Ojibway  of 
Algonquin  stock,  dwelling  near  Lake  Superior,  but  an 
Onondaga  of  Huron-Iroquois  stock,  dwelling  south  of 
Lake  Ontario.  Some  time  about  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century  he  conceived  the  idea  of  putting  an  end 
to  the  incessant  wars  which  raged  among  the  Indians, 
by  an  offensive  and  defensive  league.  The  idea  was  dis- 
tasteful to  the  Onondagas,  and,  like  Mahomet,  he  had  his 
hegira,  for  he  had  to  flee  to  the  Mohawks.  They  re- 
ceived him  and  accepted  his  views,  and  from  them  the 
league  extended  westward.  They  were  called  the  "  elder 
brethren  "  from  this  fact,  and  they  wielded  great  in- 
fluence at  the  councils  of  the  confederacy.  Their  home 
was  at  the  head-waters  of  the  Mohawk  River,  and  from 
that  point  their  war  parties  kept  the  whole  region  to  the 
north  and  east  in  terror.  Next,  to  the  west,  were  the 
Oneidas,  who  dwelt  near  Oneida  Creek  and  Lake. 
The  Onondagas  were  the  central  tribe,  and  the  fire  of 
the  grand  council  of  the  league  was  kept  burning  among 
them.  Their  headquarters  were  on  the  Onondaga 
River.  Then  succeeded  to  the  west  the  Cayugas  on 
Cayuga  Lake,  and  the  western  gate  of  the  "  Long 
House,"  as  they  figuratively  called  their  league,  was  kept 


278    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

by  the  Senecas,  who  reached  to  the  Genesee  valley.  The 
turnpike  roads  from  the  head-waters  of  the  Hudson 
River  to  Buffalo  on  Lake  Erie  are  on  the  main  trail 
which  used  to  connect  the  chief  towns  of  the  Iroquois 
league.  At  the  time  of  their  greatest  extension,  about 
1650,  they  had  subdued  the  whole  extent  of  territory 
now  known  as  Ontario  as  far  as  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie ; 
they  kept  the  French  in  constant  alarm  at  Quebec,  and 
their  war  parties  struck  even  as  far  east  as  Chaleur  Bay, 
and  far  north  among  the  Montagnais.  They  held  all  the 
tribes  in  subjection  as  far  south  as  the  Tennessee  River; 
on  the  west  they  reached  the  Mississippi,  where  they  met 
the  powerful  tribes  of  the  Sioux,  and  on  the  northwest 
they  were  held  in  check  by  the  warlike  nation  of  the 
Ojibways,  with  whom  they  had  been  for  two  hundred 
years  at  peace.  They  were  never  very  numerous,  for 
their  total  population  is  estimated  by  Parkman  at  10,000 
to  12,000  souls.  Their  fighting  strength  was  from  2000 
to  2300  warriors  of  all  the  tribes,  but  the  Dutch  first,  and 
then  the  English,  supplied  them  with  fire-arms  before  the 
other  savage  tribes  were  able  to  procure  them.  They 
were  the  most  politic  nation  of  Indians  on  the  continent, 
and  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  preserved  their 
independence  by  playing  off  the  English  on  the  south 
against  the  French  on  the  north.  In  the  main  they  clung 
to  the  English  alliance,  and  their  policy  preserved  the 
continent  to  the  English,  for  if  they  had  thrown  their 
strength  on  the  side  of  the  French  the  English  colonies 
would  have  been  confined  to  the  seaboard.  They  utterly 
destroyed  the  Huron  and  Tobacco  nations  in  1650,  the 
Neuter  nation  in  1651,  and  the  Fries  in  1654;  they  sub- 
dued the  Andastes  in  1675 ;  they  terrorised  the  wander- 
ing Algonquins,  and  domineered  over  all  the  central 
tribes  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Their  numbers  wasted  in 
war  were  renewed  by  their  custom  of  adopting  into  their 
nation  the  residue,  and  especially  the  youth,  of  the  nations 
they  conquered.  They  were  not  more  cruel  than  other 
Indians,  and  Lescarbot  says,  with  much  truth,  that  when 
he  recalls  the  troubles  in  Europe  he  thinks  that  neither 


r    ;:i 


ZTki 


to  V 


c  ? 
u  ,- 

3   -^ 


< 


CHAMPLAIN   IN   ONTARIO     279 

Spaniards,  Flemings,  nor  French  owe  the  Indians  any- 
thing in  respect  of  cruelty.  This  formidable  nation  of 
warriors — the  Romans  of  the  New  World — Champlain 
now  marched  to  attack  in  their  strongholds. 

It  was  the  9th  of  October  when  the  scouts  of  the  war 
party  first  met  any  of  the  Iroquois,  and  the  next  day  they 
arrived  at  one  of  the  fortified  towns  of  the  Onondagas. 
The  site  of  the  town  has  been  much  disputed,  but  has 
been  ascertained  with  reasonable  certainty  to  have  been 
in  Madison  County,  New  York,  at  Nichol's  Pond,  a  little 
southeast  of  Oneida  Lake.  It  .was  a  position  well 
selected  for  defence,  and  was  strongly  fortified,  as  will  be 
seen  upon  the  plan  given  by  Champlain,  page  278.  It 
was  in  the  shape  of  a  hexagon,  one  side  rested  on  the 
pond,  and  streams  making  a  sort  of  moat  were  made  to 
flow  along  the  bases  of  four  other  sides.  The  whole  vil- 
lage was  inclosed  within  a  rampart  made  of  palisades 
four  deep,  interlaced  together  and  made  of  strong  tim- 
bers thirty  feet  high  and  about  six  inches  apart.  Gal- 
leries ran  around  the  inside  for  the  defenders,  with  loop- 
holes for  discharging  missiles.  The  insubordination  of 
the  Huron  character  soon  manifested  itself.  It  had  been 
planned  not  to  show  their  strength  until  all  preparations 
were  complete,  but  the  Indians  could  not  be  restrained 
from  a  premature  attack,  and  Champlain  and  his  French- 
men had  to  disclose  themselves  to  cover  the  retreat  of 
the  attacking  party.  Although  angry  at  their  wilfulness, 
he  devised  a  plan  of  assault  which  they  agreed  to  carry 
out.  A  sort  of  tower  of  wood,  called  a  cavalier,  was  pre- 
pared higher  than  the  palisades,  and  on  it  some  of  the 
Frenchmen  with  arquebuses  were  placed  so  as  to  clear 
the  rampart,  mantelets  were  also  made  to  cover  the 
attacking  parties  in  setting  fire  to  the  palisades.  The 
Indians  were  discouraged  at  the  non-arrival  of  the  five 
hundred  men  promised  by  the  Andastes,  but  as  the 
Iroquois  were  availing  themselves  of  every  delay  to 
strengthen  their  position,  and  the  assailants  were  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  carry  the  fort,  Champlain  urged  on  an 
immediate  attack.    The  cavalier  was  carried  and  placed 


28o    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

by  two  hundred  savages,  and  the  arquebusiers  cleared 
the  rampart,  but  instead  of  bringing  up  the  mantelets 
the  Indians  got  excited  and  capered  round,  yelling  and 
shooting  their  arrows  without  any  result.  They  brought 
up  wood,  but  it  was  insufficient  in  quantity,  and  in  their 
excitement  they  placed  it  on  the  lee  side,  so  that  the 
flames  were  carried  away  from  the  palisades.  Cham- 
plain's  efforts  to  direct  the  savages  were  in  vain;  his 
orders  and  shouts  were  unheeded  in  the  din  of  their 
whooping  and  capering.  The  result  was  that  the  attack 
failed.  The  Iroquois  had  abundance  of  water  and 
extinguished  the  fire,  and  the  Hurons,  discouraged, 
returned  to  their  camp.  Two  of  the  chiefs  and  fifteen 
other  Indians  were  wounded,  and  Champlain  received  an 
arrow  wound  in  his  leg  and  one  in  the  knee.  With  great 
difficulty  he  prevailed  on  the  Indians  to  wait  four  days 
longer  for  the  arrival  of  the  Andastes.  The  time  was 
spent  in  skirmishes,  and  the  impetuosity  of  the  Hurons 
repeatedly  led  them  into  difficulties,  from  which  Cham- 
plain's  arquebusiers  had  to  extricate  them ;  but  they  could 
not  be  induced  to  make  another  assault,  and  in  spite  of 
his  councils  resolved  to  retreat.  The  only  thing  Cham- 
plain  found  to  commend  in  their  tactics  was  the  secure 
way  they  conducted  their  retreat,  by  covering  their  flanks 
and  rear  and  carrying  their  wounded  in  baskets  placed 
in  the  centre  of  the  main  body.  Champlain  was  strapped 
up  and  carried  on  the  back  of  a  sturdy  L^avage.  After  a 
long  retreat,  harassed  for  a  while  by  the  Iroquois,  they 
arrived  at  the  place  where  they  had  left  their  canoes,  and 
found  them  safe.  Then  the  party  prepared  to  break  up — 
some  to  fish,  some  to  hunt,  some  to  trap  beaver,  and  some 
to  return  to  their  homes. 

Champlain  was  anxious  to  return  to  Quebec,  but  the 
savages  had  other  designs.  They  wanted  him  and  his 
Frenchmen,  partly  for  the  protection  of  their  fire-arms  and 
partly  for  their  aid,  to  arrange  in  winter  council  for  an- 
other expedition.  He  could  not  get  a  canoe  to  carry  him 
home,  and  was  obliged  to  go  back  to  the  Huron  country 
with  his  intractable  allies.    They  crossed  the  end  of  the 


CHAMPLAIN   IN   ONTARIO     281 

lake  and  went  hunting  for  their  winter  suppHes  up  the 
Cataraqui  and  among  the  lakes  between  Kingston  and 
Ottawa.  They  spent  a  month  in  that  locality.  Three 
days  and  two  nights  of  it  were  anxious  ones  for  Cham- 
plain,  for  in  his  eagerness  to  shoot  a  strange-looking  bird 
he  lost  his  way  in  the  woods.  He  was  without  his  com- 
pass, and  wandered  round  in  the  forest,  for  the  weather 
was  cloudy  and  rainy.  It  is  good  evidence  of  his  re- 
sourcefulness that  he  supported  himself  by  his  gun,  and 
could  kindle  a  fire  and  cook  the  birds  he  shot.  Coming 
upon  a  stream  he  followed  the  flowing  water.  He  came 
out  upon  a  fall  and  an  opening  in  the  forest  leading  to  a 
far-reaching  meadow,  where  there  was  a  large  number 
of  wild  animals,  and  then  he  saw  a  long  stretch  of  broad 
river  and  recognised  the  portage  track  he  had  been  over. 
That  night  he  slept  in  better  spirits,  after  making  his  sup- 
per of  the  rest  of  the  birds.  The  next  morning  he  con- 
sidered carefully  the  lie  of  the  country  and  the  bearings 
of  the  mountains  on  the  river  bank,  and  concluded  that 
the  camp  was  four  or  five  leagues  further  down.  He 
could  now  walk  with  leisure  along  the  stream  until  he 
perceived  the  smoke  of  the  camp.  After  that  the  Indians 
never  would  allow  him  to  go  alone  into  the  woods,  and 
he  was  careful  never  again  to  leave  his  compass  in 
camp. 

December  had  come,  and  the  lakes  and  streams  were 
frozen.  The  Indians  started  for  home,  going  across  the 
country  in  a  toilsome  march,  laden  with  the  deer  they 
had  killed.  The  Indians  each  carried  a  load  of  a  hun- 
dred pounds,  but  Champlain  found  twenty  pounds  very 
heavy  in  tramping  through  the  woods.  For  passing  over 
the  ice  they  used  "  trainees  de  bois  " — flat  sledges,  still 
used  in  Canada,  and  called  traineaux  and  toboggans. 
They  were  sixteen  days  on  the  march,  over  a  broken 
country,  from  somewhere  northeast  of  Kingston,  not  far 
from  Rideau  Lake,  to  Lake  Simcoe ;  and  to  add  to  their 
labours  they  had  a  few  days'  thaw.  Soldiering  on  the 
open  plains  of  France  or  sailing  on  the  stormy  North 
Atlantic  did  not  try  Champlain's  courage  and  endurance 


282    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

so  much  as  this  march,  but  he  was  a  many-sided  man, 
strong  in  body  as  in  mind.  He  was  as  much  at  home  in 
the  brilHant  court  of  France  as  in  a  wigwam  on  a  Cana- 
dian lake,  as  patient  and  poHtic  with  a  wild  band  of 
savages  on  Lake  Huron  as  with  a  crowd  of  grasping 
traders  in  St.  Malo  or  Dieppe.  Always  calm,  always  un- 
selfish, always  depending  on  God,  in  whom  he  believed 
and  trusted,  and  thinking  of  France,  which  he  loved,  this 
single-hearted  man  resolutely  followed  the  path  of  his 
duty  under  all  circumstances ;  never  looking  for  ease  or 
asking  for  profit,  loved  by  the  wild  people  of  the  forest, 
respected  by  the  courtiers  of  the  King,  and  trusted  by 
the  close-fisted  merchants  of  the  maritime  cities  of 
France. 

It  was  close  upon  Christmas,  1615,  when  he  arrived 
at  the  Huron  town  of  Cahiague,  near  the  site  of  the  pres- 
ent town  of  Orillia,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Simcoe.  To 
the  same  town  also  came  the  chief  Iroquet  and  his  band 
of  Algonquins  from  the  Ottawa.  Champlain  did  not  rest 
long  there,  but  in  the  first  week  of  the  new  year  set  out  to 
visit  a  neighbouring  tribe  to  the  west — the  Tobacco  nation. 
They  were  kindred  to  the  Hurons,  and  spoke  the  same 
language.  Their  name  was  derived  from  the  fact  that 
they  gave  great  attention  to  growing  a  kind  of  tobacco 
much  valued  by  the  Indians.  They  were  a  sedentary 
people,  living  in  villages  and  growing  maize  for  support, 
and  occupied  an  extent  of  land  to  the  southwest  of  the 
Hurons,  corresponding  to  the  present  counties  of  Duf- 
ferin  and  Grey.  From  thence  he  went  to  the  Cheveux 
Relcves  (Ottawas),  who  dwelt  on  the  shores  of  the  lake 
in  the  present  counties  of  Bruce  and  Huron.  They  were 
of  Algonquin  stock,  and  were  friendly  with  the  Hurons, 
though  their  language  was  different;  but  they  were  in 
deadly  enmity  with  the  Mascoutins.  an  Algonquin  people 
dwelling  to  the  west  of  Lake  Huron.  South  of  the 
.Tobacco  nation  and  the  Cheveux  Releves  dwelt  the 
Neutral  nation,  whom  Champlain  was  dissuaded  from 
visiting — a  powerful  and  fierce  people,  living  in  villages 
and  occupying  a  wide  extent  of  territory  reaching  down 


CHAMPLAIN   IN   ONTARIO     283 

to  Lake  Erie  and  across  the  Niagara  River.  They 
touched  the  Seneca  tribe  of  Iroquois  at  the  Genessee 
River  on  the  east  and  the  Erie  nation  on  the  west.  All 
were  of  the  kindred  Huron-Iroquois  stock.  In  the  wars 
between  the  Iroquois  and  Hurons  they  preserved  a  care- 
ful neutrality,  which,  however,  did  not  preserve  them 
from  extermination  after  the  Iroquois  had  rooted  up  the 
Huron  nation.  The  manners  and  customs  of  all  these 
tribes  are  described  by  Champlain  with  many  details,  but 
all  fall  under  one  of  the  two  great  families — Algonquin 
or  Huron-Iroquois.  Their  customs  differed  little  within 
each  of  these  families. 

On  returning  from  this  journey  it  had  been  Cham- 
plain's  intention  to  go  northwards  to  the  great  northern 
sea  of  which  he  had  heard,  but  in  his  absence  a  quarrel 
had  broken  out  between  the  Hurons  and  visiting  Algon- 
quins,  and  he  was  appointed  umpire  by  both  parties.  It 
was  a  difficult  task,  for  there  had  been  bloodshed,  and  the 
process  of  reconciliation  was  slow.  The  northern  jour- 
ney had  to  be  abandoned,  and  on  May  20,  1616,  Cham- 
plain  set  out  on  his  return  to  Quebec,  in  company  with  the 
Nipissings  and  Algonquins  of  the  Ottawa.  They  took 
the  route  of  French  River,  Lake  Nipissing,  the  Mattawa 
and  the  Ottawa.  After  a  journey  of  itorty  days  he 
arrived  safely  at  Montreal,  where  he  found  Pont-Grave 
and  the  Recollet  Fathers,  who  had  despaired  of  seeing 
him  again.  On  July  11,  1616,  he  reached  Quebec,  and 
after  putting  matters  in  order  sailed  for  France  with 
Pont-Grave  and  arrived  at  Honfleur  September  10. 

Champlain's  work  as  an  explorer  was  now  done.  He 
had  searched  out  every  part  of  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Nova 
Scotia  and  New  Brunswick.  He  had  not  seen  Prince 
Edward  Island  because  vessels  bound  for  the  St.  Law- 
rence pass  too  far  north  and  see  only  the  Magdalen 
Islands,  or  the  Bird  Rocks,  on  their  course.  The  Prov- 
ince of  Quebec  was  well  known  to  him.  He  had  been 
up  the  Saguenay  and  up  the  St.  Maurice  to  the  head  of 
navigation  of  each  river,  and  knew,  from  Indian  reports, 
the  geography  of  the  country  farther  to  the  north.     He 


284    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

had  penetrated  to  the  southern  edge  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
basin  at  the  Strait  of  Ticonderoga  and  at  Oneida  Lake. 
He  had  followed  to  the  west  up  the  Ottawa,  up  the  Mat- 
tawa,  and  down  Lake  Nipissing  and  French  River  to 
Georgian  Bay.  He  knew  the  eastern  shores  of  Lake 
Huron,  and  apprehended  its  vast  extent ;  he  had  heard  of 
Lake  Superior,  to  the  westward,  and  he  had  paddled 
across  Lake  Ontario,  and  knew  its  relation  to  the  St. 
Lawrence  water  system.  Not  only  was  the  present  Prov- 
ince of  Quebec  well  known  to  him,  but  he  had  penetrated 
to  the  heart  of  the  Province  of  Ontario  and  had  entered 
the  northern  regions  of  the  State  of  New  York.  He  had 
hunted  in  the  country  between  Kingston  and  Ottawa ;  he 
had  passed  down  the  whole  series  of  waters  from  Lake 
Simcoe  to  the  Bay  of  Quinte;  he  had  gone  on  foot 
through  the  northern  portions  of  the  counties  of  Fron- 
tenac,  Addington,  Hastings,  Peterborough,  and  Vic- 
toria, in  central  Ontario.  In  the  western  peninsula  he 
had  visited  the  counties  of  Grey,  Bruce,  Huron,  Welling- 
ton, Simcoe,  and  Dufferin,  and  had  touched  the  head- 
waters of  the  Grand  River.  His  "  Voyages  "  are  the  rec- 
ord of  magnificent  achievements.  Few  Canadians,  even 
in  these  days  of  railways  and  steamboats,  have  such  an 
extensive  personal  knowledge  of  Canada  as  Champlain 
acquired  in  the  years  of  his  activity  as  an  explorer.  His 
powers  of  observation  were  great.  He  noticed  the 
quality  of  the  soiL  and  the  natural  productions  of  all 
the  country  he  passed  through,  and  his  descriptions  of 
the  different  tribes  of  Indians  he  met  are  accurate  and 
full. 

We  must  not,  however,  take  his  map  of  1632  as  the 
result  of  his  own  personal  experience,  for  there  are  indi- 
cations of  lakes  west  of  Lake  Huron  which  he  never  saw, 
and  which  were  reported  by  men  he  trained,  and  by  mis- 
sionaries, after  his  own  explorations  were  over.  Even 
then  Lake  Erie  was  unknown.  The  restless  activity  of 
the  hostile  Iroquois  sealed  for  many  years  the  lower  route, 
and  that  lake  was  not  known  until  all  the  sister  lakes  to 
the  west  had  been  discovered.     Lake  Michigan  is  shown 


CHAMPLAIN   IN   ONTARIO     285 

as  stretching  north  instead  of  south  from  the  Sault,  and 
upon  it  are  placed  the  copper  mines  which  belong  to  Lake 
Superior.  The  Sault  Ste.  Marie  is  laid  down  as  the 
Sault  de  Gaston,  and  it  broadens  out  into  a  great  un- 
named lake.  Champlain's  idea  of  Niagara  Falls  was 
very  inadequate,  for  he  supposed  them  to  be  merely 
rapids,  like  the  Sault  at  Montreal.  They  are  marked  on 
his  great  map,  in  1632,  with  more  emphasis  as  "  very 
high,"  but  evidently  with  inadequate  information. 

The  contradictory  reports  of  the  Indians,  which  had 
misled  Champlain,  were  disposed  of  by  his  journey  of 
1615.  He  reached  the  great  sea,  and  the  water  was  not 
salt,  and  it  did  not  flow  to  the  west — but  might  there  not 
be  a  double  discharge  from  so  great  a  basin  ?  Lescarbot, 
while  he  knew  that  the  St.  Lawrence  flowed  from  lakes, 
thought  that  there  was  also  a  western  opening  from  them 
to  the  South  Sea,  and  instanced  the  Nile  as  a  parallel 
case,  for  it  flows  from  a  lake  which  discharged  into  the 
main  ocean,  in  opposite  directions,  by  several  rivers. 
Champlain's  merits  as  a  cartographer  are  very  great. 
His  maps  are  entirely  modern  in  their  methods,  and  for 
New  France  and  New  England  are  original  and  based 
on  survey.  Every  entry  on  his  maps  has  some  founda- 
tion. There  are  no  long  strings  of  purely  fictitious  names, 
nor  drawings  of  fictitious  monsters,  nor  revivals  of  old- 
world  myths,  such  as  the  battles  of  the  pygmies  and  the 
cranes  on  the  site  of  Ottawa,  portrayed  only  fifty  years 
before  on  Desceliers'  maps.  There  is  in  his  maps  a 
strenuous  effort  to  convey  the  exact  truth  to  his  readers, 
as  when,  in  his  map  of  1612,  he  writes  along  the  south- 
west coast  of  the  Gulf,  where  Prince  Edward  Island  was 
in  a  few  years  to  detach  itself  from  the  mainland,  "  the 
author  has  not  examined  this  coast."  His  knowledge  of 
America  was  so  extensive  that  he  could  use  all  pre- 
existing materials  critically,  and  if  he  misunderstood  his 
Indian  informants,  as  he  did  in  the  case  of  Lake 
Michigan,  he  was  at  least  working  upon  something  and 
not  making  the  geography  out  of  his  own  head. 

The  remainder  of  Champlain's  life  was  spent  in  con- 


286    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

stant  efforts  to  establish  the  colony  at  Quebec  on  a  solid, 
self-supporting  basis.  In  this  he  had  to  overcome  the 
antag-onism  of  the  merchants  who  controlled  the  com- 
panies, and  of  their  servants  in  the  colony.  His  aim  had 
a  farther  reach  than  theirs.  He  saw  that  the  only  way  to 
open  up  the  country  to  commerce  was  to  win  over  the 
Indians  by  evangelising  them.  Every  missionary  estab- 
lished in  a  savage  tribe  was  a  pioneer  of  civilisation  and 
of  trade.  His  aim  also  was  to  win  a  peace  for  the  west- 
ern tribes,  and  to  do  that  it  was  necessary  to  make  the 
Iroquois  feel  the  power  of  France.  He  asked  for  a  hun- 
dred men  only,  and  though  they  were  not  sent,  his  vigor- 
ous policy  made  him  respected  by  the  Iroquois,  and  in 
1622  they  sent  emissaries  to  Quebec  and  concluded  a  peace 
with  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies.  It  lasted  for 
nearly  five  years,  and  was  broken  by  the  reckless  folly  of 
the  Algonquins  in  1627.  It  was  in  the  time  of  his  suc- 
cessors that  the  allies  of  the  French  were  crushed,  and 
for  years  the  scanty  colonists  did  not  dare  to  move  away 
from  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Quebec.  The 
merchants  were  opposed  to  settlement,  lest  it  might  inter- 
fere with  the  fur  trade  and  detract  from  the  large  divi- 
dends on  their  investments.  The  majority  were  Hugue- 
nots, and  if  their  hostility  was  not  open,  it  was  persistent, 
and  they  favoured  neither  Recollet  nor  Jesuit.  This 
selfish  policy  led  to  the  destruction  of  the  Huron  nation, 
and  in  consequence  the  Iroquois  held  the  upper  country 
and  for  years  cut  off  communication  with  the  west.  The 
successive  viceroys — the  Count  de  Soissons,  the  Prince  de 
Conde,  the  Duke  de  Montmorcnci,  the  Duke  de  Venta- 
dour — all  appointed  Champlain  as  their  lieutenant  and 
representative,  but  the  servants  of  the  trading  companies 
were  subject  to  their  own  masters,  and  discouraged  the 
colonists  from  extending  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  while 
the  company  left  them  insufficiently  provided  with  food 
and  with  the  means  of  defence.  Recollets  and  Jesuits 
were  well,  but  a  few  soldiers  would  have  opened  up  the 
country  very  much  more  quickly. 

Without  entering  upon  debatable  ground,  it  is  evident 


CHAMPLAIN    IN    ONTARIO     287 

that  the  colony  was  retarded  by  reHgious  dissension. 
Champlain  was  above  all  narrowness,  but  he  was  a  sin- 
cerely relig-ious  man,  and  a  convinced  Catholic,  tolerant, 
not  with  the  tolerance  of  scepticism,  but  with  the  toler- 
ance of  charity.  The  traders  and  settlers  at  Quebec 
formed  too  small  a  community  to  agitate  religious  con- 
troversies with  safety.  The  Huguenot  side  of  the  story 
has  not  been  recorded,  but  enough  appears  through  the 
writings  of  the  Recollet  and  Jesuit  authors  to  indicate 
that  there  were  faults  on  both  sides.  The  RecoUets  were 
the  first  to  petition  for  the  exclusion  of  Protestants,  and 
when  at  last  the  colony  was  formally  declared  to  be  a 
Catholic  community,  open  only  to  settlement  by  Catholics, 
it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  it  was 
the  only  possible  course  to  secure  the  unity  necessary  to 
its  continued  existence.  The  United  States  historians 
unduly  magnify  this  exclusion  and  exaggerate  the  free- 
dom of  the  English  colonies.  There  was  no  religious 
toleration  in  the  English  colonies  in  early  times,  and  if 
Huguenots  were  not  allowed  to  settle  in  New  France 
Roman  Catholics  were  not  allowed  to  settle  in  New 
England. 

For  these  reasons  the  growth  of  the  colony  was  very 
slow.  When  the  English  took  Quebec  there  were 
scarcely  one  hundred  Frenchmen  in  all  Canada.  This 
handful  was,  however,  the  beginning  of  the  Canadian 
people — no  trace  existed  of  any  settlers  previous  to 
Champlain's  settlement  in  1608  at  Quebec  and  De  Monts' 
in  Acadia  in  1604.  The  company  of  merchants  was  at 
last  superseded  and  the  trading  privileges  transferred  to 
the  De  Caens,  uncle  and  nephew, — Huguenots  of  Nor- 
mandy,— but  no  improvement  followed.  At  last  Cardinal 
Richelieu  took  up  the  matter  and  established,  in  1627,  the 
company  called  the  One  Hundred  Associates,  of  which 
he  became  the  head.  The  business  was  managed  by  a 
small  committee  of  merchants  of  Rouen,  Dieppe,  and 
Paris.  But  in  1629,  before  the  new  system  was  fairly 
installed,  the  English  took  Quebec  and  sent  Champlain 
to  England  as  a  prisoner  of  war.   He  did  not  even  then 


288    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

lose  heart,  but  encouraged  the  colonists  to  remain  loyal 
to  Canada  and  to  France.  He  was  rewarded  for  his 
constancy  by  finding,  on  arrival  in  England,  that  the 
capture  of  Quebec  had  been  made  after  the  declaration  of 
peace,  and  that  it  would  be  restored  to  France.  Faithful 
to  the  passion  of  his  life,  he  returned  to  Canada  in  1633, 
and  on  December  25,  1635,  he  died  at  Quebec,  the  city 
he  founded  and  loved.  The  destruction  caused  by  the 
bombardment  under  Wolfe  and  the  changes  of  years 
have  destroyed  the  marks  which  might  indicate  the  exact 
resting  place  of  his  remains,  but  the  somewhat  tardy  piety 
of  recent  years  has  erected  a  statue  to  his  memory  on 
the  magnificent  terrace  which  overlooks  the  great  river 
where  his  lifework  was  spent. 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

EXPLORATION    OF    THE    WEST,    FROM    CHAMPLAIN    TO    THE 
DISPERSION  OF  THE  HURONS 

THE  work  of  exploration  passed  on  to  a  small 
band  of  men  whom  Champlain  had,  with  char- 
acteristic foresight,  selected  and  prepared  by- 
sending  them  to  winter  with  the  Indians  to 
learn  their  languages  and  to  become  a  ready  means  of 
communication  and  a  bond  of  union  between  them  and 
the  French.  There  were  indeed  other  interpreters,  but 
they  left  no  trace  in  history,  and  their  influence,  like  that 
of  the  traders  who  employed  them,  was  often  hostile  to 
Champlain  and  his  aims.  The  men  formed  by  Cham- 
plain,  after  living  for  years  with  the  Indians,  for  the 
most  part  returned  to  the  settlements,  married  and 
reared  families,  and  their  descendants  are  numerous  in 
Canada  to  the  present  day.  The  others  either  left  the 
country  or  disappeared  into  the  woods,  and,  taking 
Indian  wives,  became  the  forerunners  of  the  coureurs  de 
hois,  or  wood  rangers,  who  made  the  labours  of  the 
missionaries  doubly  difficult  by  their  disorders  and  evil 
example. 

Exploration  in  Canada  was  not  as  difficult  as  in  other 
continental  regions.  The  Acadian  provinces  are  deeply 
indented  by  the  sea,  and  no  part  is  at  any  considerable 
distance  from  the  shore.  Old  Canada  is,  in  brief,  the 
valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  myriads  of  tributaries 
pour  into  the  lap  of  the  great  river.  In  the  summer  the 
streams  are  a  network  of  water-roads,  and  the  light 
canoes  of  birch  bark  may  penetrate  with  ease  into  the 
farthest  recesses,  following  up  the  rivers  and  the  streams 
to  their  ultimate  sources  in  morasses  or  lakes.  Oft- 
times  these  are  on  water-partings  and  issue  forth  in  two 


290    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

streams  flowing  in  different  directions.  More  frequently 
the  portages  are  short,  and  the  voyageur,  turning  his 
canoe  over  and  taking  it  upon  his  shoulders,  carries  it 
across  the  intervening  distance  and  launches  it  upon  a 
new  system  of  waterways.  In  the  English  colonies 
these  intervals  were  called  "  carries,"  but  in  Canada  the 
French  word  "  portage  "  has  never  been  displaced.  The 
French  Canadians  were  ideal  voyageurs,  and  such  travv 
elling  became  in  them  an  instinct.  Water  is  everywhere, 
and  it  stretches  out  by  rivers,  streams,  and  lakes  into  an 
immense  system  of  anastomosis  gravitating  to  the  main 
arteries  of  the  country.  The  streams  open  up  gateways 
through  the  forests  and  tunnel  through  the  overhanging 
foliage  of  the  densest  woods, — or  in  reedy  places  where 
no  channel  is  visible  to  the  untrained  eye  the  guide,  skilled 
in  forest  lore,  parting  the  reeds  with  his  paddle,  leads  the 
light  skiff  into  sudden  expanses  of  lake  or  into  unex- 
pected river  turnings.  The  St.  Lawrence  River  was  thus 
the  main  highway  of  the  continent,  for  its  valley  cuts 
transversely  across  and  touches  the  head-waters  of  the 
rivers  flowing  north  and  south.  Especially  does  it  open 
up  communication  with  the  great  river  of  the  interior, 
the  Mississippi,  for  at  certain  places,  such  as  Chicago 
and  the  heads  of  the  St.  Joseph  and  Fox  rivers,  during 
times  of  spring  freshet  the  water  flowed  indifferently 
in  either  direction.  In  the  winter  the  country  is  still 
accessible,  for  the  streams  are  frozen  and  land  and  water 
is  covered  with  a  mantle  of  snow.  The  hunter  or  trav- 
eller may  go  anywhere  on  snowshoes,  and  draw  after  him 
his  necessary  outfit  as  before  explained  (p.  281)  on  a 
toboggan.  Only  in  spring,  at  the  break-up  of  the  ice, 
is  travelling  impossible.  For  these  reasons  the  country 
was  very  rapidly  explored  as  soon  as  the  Indian  wars 
ceased  and  voyageurs  could  move  about  without  endan- 
gering their  scalps. 

The  Recollet  friars  whom  Champlain  brought  out 
in  161 5  were  the  pioneer  missionaries  of  the  west,  and 
led  the  way  into  those  fastnesses  of  heathendom  where 
the   Jesuit    fathers    who    followed   them    laboured    with 


rt     P 

J2    '~ 


5    - 
a; 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  291 

such  heroic  self-sacrifice ;  but,  in  truth,  the  fur-trader  or 
interpreter  preceded  the  missionary  in  most  of  the  dis- 
coveries on  the  western  waters,  for  the  missionary  was 
helpless  until  he  could  communicate  with  his  savage 
hearers,  and  communication  at  its  first  stage  was  by  the 
means  of  some  interpreter,  who  of  necessity  had  learned 
the  language  by  a  residence  more  or  less  extended. 
Some  of  these  men  were  educated  and  very  intelligent, 
and  their  adventurous  explorations  have  only  in  recent 
years  received  adequate  acknowledgment.  That  fol- 
lowed naturally  from  the  fact  that  the  books  and  other 
literature  were  written  by  ecclesiastics,  and  are  chiefly 
concerned  with  matters  of  spiritual  interest.  Mention 
is  no  doubt  made  in  the  Jesuit  Relations  of  some  of  these 
pioneers  of  commerce,  but  these  Relations  are,  primarily, 
missionary  reports  published  for  the  purpose  of  enlisting 
sympathy  and  obtaining  support  for  the  extension  of 
missions  and  the  salvation  of  souls.  Bancroft's  state- 
ment that  "  not  a  cape  was  turned  nor  a  river  entered 
but  a  Jesuit  led  the  way  "  must  be  taken  with  a  large 
deduction  for  rhetorical  effect.  The  "  Relations  "  them- 
selves make  no  such  claim.  They  are  precious  records 
of  the  experiences  and  trials  of  devoted  men,  and  inas- 
much as  the  missionaries  were  highly  educated  and 
trained  in  the  science  of  that  day,  their  letters  contain 
most  important  observations  and  even  treatises  upon  the 
ethnology,  philology,  and  natural  histor>  of  the  regions 
they  traversed;  but  these  latter  themes  were  accessory 
to  the  ground  subject  of  their  thoughts.  It  was  nothing 
to  them  who  first,  from  a  geographical  tandpoint,  had 
reached  this  river  or  that  lake  or  had  dwelt  with  some 
distant  tribe ;  the  question  with  them  was,  who  had  first 
brought  the  Gospel  there.  Consequently,  while  the 
reader  may  detect  minimising  or  even  suppression  of 
due  credit  to  Recollet,  Jesuit,  or  Sulpician,  according 
as  the  writer  mav  lean  to  one  or  the  other  of  these  orders, 
any  failure  to  dwell  upon  the  mere  priority  of  discovery 
is  probably  unintentional  and  due  to  a  want  of  appre- 
ciation of  its  importance. 


292    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

In  the  remnant  of  eight  souls  who  survived  the  terrible 
winter  of  1608-9  at  Quebec  was  Etienne  Brule,  a  quick- 
witted, adventurous  youth  whom  Champlain  took  with 
him  when,  in  1610,  he  went  to  the  Indian  rendezvous  at 
the  Richelieu.  When  the  savages  prepared  to  return 
to  their  homes  Brule  asked  to  go  with  the  Algonquins  to 
learn  their  language,  which  was  a  veritable  lingua  franca, 
from  the  Micmacs  on  the  Atlantic  to  the  farthest  tribes 
on  the  west  and  north.  Champlain  willingly  consented 
and  entrusted  the  lad  to  Iroquet,  a  chief  of  the  Little 
Algonquins  (Petite  Nation),  who  hunted  over  the  terri- 
tory of  the  lower  Ottawa,  and  this  youth  was  the  first 
white  man  to  visit  the  site  of  the  capital  of  the  Dominion 
of  Canada.  For  the  other  great  family  of  Indian  lan- 
guages Champlain  provided  by  taking  with  him  to 
France  a  young  Huron,  whom  he  brought  back  the  fol- 
lowing year — a  bright,  intelligent  youth  who  took  kindly 
to  French  ways.  They  named  him  Savignon,  and  when 
the  following  year  they  all  met  at  the  appointed  ren- 
dezvous at  Montreal,  Champlain  could  communicate  with 
all  the  assembled  tribes.  He  had  them  both  with  him 
to  interpret  at  the  great  midnight  council  on  the  Lake  of 
the  Two  Mountains,  and  in  relating  his  descent  of  the 
Lachine  Rapids  he  states  that  he  was  the  first  Christian 
to  run  them,  excepting  Brule ;  but  whether  he  meant  that 
Brule  had  run  the  rapids  with  his  Indian  hosts  when 
descending  to  the  rendezvous,  or  that  Brule  was  with 
him  on  that  occasion,  does  not  clearly  appear. 

In  the  summer  of  161 1  one  of  the  private  traders 
wished  to  send  a  youth  to  winter  in  the  Indian  country, 
and  Champlain  consented,  with  the  stipulation  that  he 
should  go  with  Iroquet  where  Brule  had  been.  He  him- 
self sent  a  youth  up  to  the  Huron  country,  and  Brule, 
who  disappears  for  four  years,  probably  went  up  also. 
These  were  the  first  white  men  to  reach  Lake  Huron. 
Champlain  "sent  the  impostor  Vignau  to  the  Algonquins 
of  AUumette  Island  at  the  same  time. 

In  161 5,  when  Champlain  started  off  to  join  the  great 
war  party,  he  found  Brule  at  Montreal  and  took  him. 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  293 

together  with  another  Frenchman,  along  with  him. 
After  the  expedition  had  assembled  there  was  a  grand 
council  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Simcoe,  and  it  was  decided 
to  send  a  deputation  to  the  Andastes  to  inform  them  of 
the  departure  of  the  war  party  and  to  hurry  up  the  prom- 
ised contingent.  Twelve  Indians  were  selected,  and 
Brule  begged  to  go  with  them.  The  opportunity  for 
discovery  induced  Champlain  to  consent,  and  the  depu- 
tation departed  on  September  8.  It  was  an  enterprise 
of  great  peril,  for  the  country  of  the  Andastes  lay  far 
to  the  south,  on  the  head-waters  of  the  Susquehanna, 
and  the  direct  route  passed  through  the  country  of  the 
Senecas — the  western  canton  of  the  Iroquois.  The  only 
safe  route  was  by  a  long  circuitous  trail  through  the 
country  of  the  Neutrals  and  across  the  Niagara  River. 
The  route  they  followed  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  they 
took  two  canoes,  and  by  the  necessity  of  reaching  their 
destination  well  before  the  arrival  of  the  war  party.  It 
was  by  the  portage  from  Lake  Simcoe  to  the  Humber 
River  and  down  to  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Toronto, 
thence  directly  across  the  head  of  the  lake  to  that  part 
of  the  Neutral  territory  east  of  Niagara.  By  that  route 
they  would  avoid  the  main  Iroquois  trails  and  traverse 
the  southwestern  corner  only  of  the  Seneca  country. 
By  dint  of  great  circumspection  they  accomplished  their 
task  safely,  capturing  on  the  way,  or  killing,  a  small 
party  of  Senecas.  Brule,  then,  was  the  first  white  man 
to  stand  on  the  site  of  Toronto  and  to  paddle  on  Lake 
Ontario,  but  he  heard  nothing  of  Niagara  Falls,  and 
must  have  landed  on  the  southern  shore  well  to  the  east 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River. 

As  we  have  seen,  Brule  was  not  able  to  move  the 
Andastes  out  of  the  conventional  Indian  routine  of 
feasts  and  harangues,  and  the  contingent  arrived,  there- 
fore, two  days  too  late.  He  spent  the  winter  at  Caran- 
touan,  the  chief  town  of  the  Andastes,  and  from  thence 
explored  the  surrounding  region  of  central  Pennsylvania. 
He  went  down  the  Susquehanna  River  to  Chesapeake 
Bay,   and   his   explorations   thus   touched  those   of  the 


294    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

English  and  the  Dutch  on  the  coast  and  the  Hudson 
River.  Chesapeake  Bay  had  been  thoroughly  examined 
seven  years  before  by  the  English  under  Captain  John 
Smith. 

In  the  spring  of  1616  he  set  out,  with  guides  from  the 
Andastes,  to  return  to  the  Huron  country,  but  the  party 
fell  in  with  a  stronger  party  of  Senecas  and  was  scat- 
tered. Brule  lost  his  way,  and  after  much  wandering 
chose  to  take  his  chances  with  the  Senecas  rather  than 
starve.  They  were  friendly  at  first,  but  soon  discovered 
his  real  nationality  and  commenced  to  torture  him. 
While  he  was  being  stripped  for  burning  the  Indians 
snatched  away  an  Agnus  Dei  which  he,  though  not  in 
the  least  a  pious  person,  wore  next  to  his  skin.  He 
solemnly  warned  them  that  it  was  a  medicine  of  great 
power  and  would  certainly  kill  them.  At  that  moment 
a  storm  of  unexampled  fury  suddenly  burst,  and  the 
superstitious  Indians,  terrified  by  lightning  and  thunder, 
quickly  following  a  serene  sky,  realised  that  they  had  to 
do  with  a  being  of  supernatural  powers.  They  released 
him,  bound  up  his  wounds,  and  took  him  to  their  towns, 
where  he  became  so  popular  that  no  feast  or  dance  was 
held  without  him,  and  at  last  they  gave  him  guides  to 
return  to  the  Huron  country. 

He  disappeared  for  a  while  among  the  Indians,  but  in 
1 61 8  he  came  down  with  the  Hurons  to  trade,  and  met 
Champlain  at  Three  Rivers,  to  whom  he  related  his 
adventures  and  described  the  country  explored.  Cham- 
plain  encouraged  him  to  go  back  with  his  Indian  friends 
and  continue  his  discoveries.  We  hear  of  him  occasion- 
ally at  the  trading  posts,  and  in  fact  he  had  a  salary  of 
one  hundred  pistoles  a  year  to  induce  the  Hurons  to  come 
down  regularly  to  trade.  In  1621  he  was  at  Toanche, 
a  town  of  the  Hurons,  and  with  a  Frenchman  named 
Grenolle  he  went  on  an  expedition  of  discovery  to  the 
north  and  reached  a  place  where  there  was  a  mine  of 
native  copper.  Later  he  pushed  farther  to  the  west,  and 
from  the  narrative  of  the  Recollet  Sagard  it  is  certain 
that  he  was  the  discoverer  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  was 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  295 

the  first  white  man  on  Lake  Superior.  He  was  also  the 
first  white  man  to  visit  the  Neutral  nation.  Champlain 
had  been  upon  their  borders,  but  deterred  by  reports  of 
his  Huron  guides  he  did  not  cross.  Brule  went  over  the 
country  and  gave  a  glowing  account  of  it  to  the  Recollet 
father  Le  Caron.  Still  there  is  no  hint  anywhere  of  his 
having  seen  the  Falls  of  Niagara. 

Brule  seems  to  have  been  almost  ubiquitous,  and  also 
to  have  absorbed  from  his  Huron  friends  some  of  their 
fickleness,  for  we  find  him  in  1629  at  Quebec  and  Tadous- 
sac,  assisting  the  English  commander  Kirke,  and  with 
Marsolet,  one  of  Champlain's  interpreters  in  Monta- 
gnais,  accepting  service  under  the  English.  The  influence 
of  the  "  noble  red  man  "  of  the  novelists  is  not  elevating, 
and  the  Hurons  were  not  up  to  the  level  even  of  the 
Iroquois  in  questions  of  morality  or  fidelity  and  honour. 
Whoever  edited  the  last  volume  of  Champlain's  voyages 
(1632)  denounces  Brule,  not  only  for  accepting  English 
pay,  but  for  his  licentious  life  among  the  savages.  The 
passage  is  too  rhetorical  to  have  been  written  by  Cham- 
plain,  but  Brule's  conduct  nevertheless  was  more  con- 
sonant with  his  Huron  associations  than  with  his  French 
birth.  He  went  back  to  the  Huron  country,  and  in  1632 
he  was  murdered  by  his  savage  friends — who  also  boiled 
and  ate  him.  Their  superstitious  fears  led  them  to 
abandon  Toanche,  the  village  where  the  murder  occurred, 
and  in  1635  the  missionary  Brebeuf  was  surprised  to 
find  it  burned.  The  Indians  attributed  to  Brule  the 
pestilence  which  shortly  after  broke  out,  and  one  of  the 
sorcerers  saw  the  spirit  of  the  murdered  man's  sister 
flying  over  the  infected  town,  though  most  of  the  Indians 
said  that  it  was  the  spirit  of  his  uncle. 

From  161 5,  when  Champlain  brought  out  the  four 
friars,  to  1629,  when  the  English  broke  up  the  colony  at 
Quebec,  the  Recollets,  or  reformed  Franciscans,  were 
the  pioneers  in  Christian  missions  throughout  Canada. 
While  Le  Caron  went  up  to  the  Huron  country.  Father 
d'Olbeau  undertook  the  mission  from  Tadoussac  to  the 
Montagnais,    and    the    others,    Father   Jamay    and    the 


296    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Brother  Pacifique  Du  Plessis,  ministered  to  the  French  at 
Quebec  and  Three  Rivers  and  to  the  Indians  who  gath- 
ered around  these  posts.  Other  Recollets  soon  came  out 
and  laboured  among  the  Indians  at  Miscou  and  on  the 
St.  John  River  in  New  Brunswick,  and  at  Ste.  Anne's  on 
Cape  Breton  Island.  Putting  aside  the  question  as  to 
whether  Cartier  had  or  had  not  priests  with  him,  it  is 
indisputable  that  the  services  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  at  Tadoussac,  Quebec,  Three  Rivers,  Montreal, 
and  on,  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron  were  celebrated  first 
by  the  spiritual  children  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi.  Le 
Caron  was  with  Champlain  on  his  visit  to  the  Tobacco 
nation  and  the  Chevcux  Relcves.  In  1616  they  both 
returned  to  Quebec,  and  the  same  season  when  Champlain 
went  to  France  Jamay  and  Le  Caron  went  with  him,  leav- 
ing Dolbeau  and  Du  Plessis  at  Quebec.  The  fathers 
went  and  returned  frequently,  and  their  number  was  in- 
creased, but  no  new  explorations  in  the  west  are  recorded 
for  a  few  years.  In  1623  Father  Le  Caron  brought 
out  Fathers  Nicholas  Viel  and  Gabriel  Sagard,  and  all 
three  went  up  to  the  west  with  the  Hurons  or  Ottawas 
returning  from  their  annual  trade.  With  them  went 
eleven  Frenchmen,  who  might  be  useful  as  protectors  of 
the  mission  or  as  promoters  of  the  fur  trade.  In  the 
winter  of  that  year  the  Recollet  Father  Bernardin  per- 
ished of  cold  and  hunger  in  attempting  to  go  from  Mis- 
cou. across  New  Brunswick,  to  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
John — the  first  missionary  to  perish  in  the  work  of  evan- 
gelisation. We  learn  also  from  Champlain  that  the 
Recollet  missionaries  had  obtained  great  influence  over 
the  Acadian  savages,  although  their  labours  have  not 
been  as  widely  known  as  they  deserved. 

The  Recollets,  who  returned  to  the  Hurons  in  1623, 
found  there  five  or  six  Frenchmen  living  in  the  cabin 
built  by  Le  Caron.  Sagard  and  Le  Caron  came  down 
the  following  spring  (1624)  and  with  them  came  Etienne 
Brule,  from  whom  Sagard  obtained  the  information  con- 
cerning Lake  Superior  recorded  in  his  book.  Brule  told 
him   chat  beyond  the   Mer   Douce    (Lake  Huron)    was 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  297 

another  very  large  lake  discharging  by  a  fall,  and  that 
the  length  of  both  lakes  was  four  hundred  leagues. 
Sagard,  writing  in  1632,  adds  that  the  fall  had  been 
called  the  Sault  de  Gaston  and  under  that  name  it  is  laid 
down  in  the  Champlain  map  of  1632.  It  cannot  be 
shown,  however,  that  Brule  went  to  the  head  of  the  lake. 
On  the  map  the  shores  are  portrayed  widening  out,  but 
the  outline  is  unfinished. 

It  was  in  1624  that  Champlain  negotiated  at  Three 
Rivers  a  peace  between  the  Iroquois  on  one  side  and  the 
Hurons,  Algonquins,  and  Montagnais  on  the  other.  The 
same  year  he  took  Madame  de  Champlain,  who  had  been 
four  years  in  Canada,  back  to  France.  The  merchant 
company  had  left  the  colony  without  provisions  and  even 
without  munitions  for  defence.  Sagard  went  to  France 
at  the  same  time  and  with  him  went  Father  Irenaeus 
Piet — the  latter  charged  with  a  mission  fraught  with 
far-reaching  consequences.  The  Recollets  in  Canada 
felt  that  the  resources  of  their  order  were  unequal  to  the 
task  of  evangelising  the  country.  The  company  of  mer- 
chants were  indeed  bound  to  support  six  Recollets,  but 
it  was  against  their  will  and  they  discouraged  and  starved 
the  missions,  as  well  as  the  colonists,  as  far  as  they  dared. 
The  Jesuits  had  powerful  friends  at  court  and,  if  they 
chose  to  use  them,  they  had  independent  resources  of 
their  own.  The  Recollets  resolved  to  invoke  their  assist- 
ance, but  they  concealed  their  design,  for  they  knew  that 
Champlain  and  everybody  else  in  the  colony  would 
oppose  it.  They  arrived  in  France  at  an  opportune  mo- 
ment ;  for  the  Duke  de  Montmorenci,  wearied  by  the 
incessant  quarrels  of  merchants  and  colonists  and  the 
religious  jealousies  of  Huguenot  and  Catholic,  had 
turned  over  the  Vice  royalty  to  the  Duke  de  Ventadour, 
a  very  strong  Catholic  whose  zeal  had  led  him  so  far  as 
to  take  orders  in  the  church.  Father  Irenaeus  succeeded ; 
but,  on  going  to  take  passage  in  the  spring  ships,  the 
Recollets  were  astonished  to  find  that,  while  it  had  been 
settled  that  two  Jesuits  were  to  go  out,  it  had  also  been 
arranged  that  their  sustenance  was  to  be  charged  against 


298    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

the  six  missionaries  the  Company  was  bound  to  support ; 
so  that  a  substitution  of  two  Jesuits  for  two  Recollets  on 
the  Company's  funds  was  all  that  had  been  effected. 

A  controversy  has  long  existed  concerning  the  trans- 
fer of  the  Canadian  missions  to  the  Jesuits,  but  the  de- 
tails are  foreign  to  the  object  of  this  book.  In  1625  three 
Jesuit  Fathers  embarked  for  Canada,  Charles  Lalemant, 
Ennemond  Masse,  and  Jean  de  Brebeuf,  with  two  lay 
brothers,  and  the  Recollets  sent  Father  Joseph  de  la 
Roche  d'Aillon.  On  their  arrival  no  one  would  receive 
the  Jesuits.  The  employees  of  the  Company  pleaded 
that  they  had  no  orders  to  take  them  into  the  fort  and  it 
seemed,  for  a  time,  as  if  they  would  have  to  go  back  to 
France.  The  Recollets,  however,  offered  them  half  of 
their  convent,  which  was  gratefully  accepted  and  en- 
joyed for  two  years,  until  the  Jesuits  could  build  a  house 
of  their  own.  There  is  no  reason  for  doubting  the 
sincerity  of  these  apostolic  men ;  for,  from  whatever 
quarter  came  the  influence  which  six  years  later  excluded 
the  Recollet  missionaries,  it  most  certainly  was  not  from 
them  or  from  any  Canadian  source  whatever. 

In  the  meantime  Father  Nicholas  Viel  had  been  left  in 
charge  of  the  Huron  mission.  The  Recollect  Father 
d'Aillon  and  the  Jesuit  Father  Brebeuf  went  up  to  Three 
Rivers  to  meet  him,  for  he  was  to  come  down  with  the 
Huron  trading  canoes.  He  reached  as  far  as  the  rapids 
in  rear  of  Montreal,  and  there  the  pagan  Hurons,  who 
were  paddling,  threw  him  and  a  young  Huron  Christian 
with  him  into  the  whirling  waters.  The  place  is  known 
to  this  day  as  the  Sault  au  Recollet,  and  the  scene  of  the 
first  Christian  martyrdom  in  Canada  is  now  a  pleasure 
resort  for  the  citizens  of  Montreal.  The  new  mission- 
aries had  counted  on  Viel's  aid,  and  as  they  were  without 
knowledge  of  the  language  or  of  the  needs  of  the  mis- 
sion, they  returned  to  Quebec,  where  they  spent  the  win- 
ter in  preparation,  and  where  Le  Caron  assisted  them 
with  the  dictionary  he  had  compiled  on  his  mission  of 
161 5- 16.  In  the  following  year  ( 1626)  D'Aillon  went  up, 
and  with  him  two  Jesuits,  Brebeuf  and  La  Noiie.     Then 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  299 

the  Company  of  Jesus  entered  upon  those  western  waters, 
doomed  to  become  the  scene  of  brilliant  promise  but  of 
ultimate  defeat — then  commenced  an  attack  on  the  strong- 
hold of  paganism,  to  which  the  storm  of  Pampeluna  was 
child's  play;  and  as,  through  long  years,  the  devoted 
children  of  Loyola  mounted  to  the  as'sault  and  the  long 
stor>'  of  war  and  blood  and  fire  and  fiendish  cruelty  is 
unrolled,  the  reader  is  amazed  at  the  indomitable  courage, 
the  unshrinking  fortitude,  and  the  boundless  charity  of 
these  chosen  soldiers  of  the  cross. 

Leaving  La  Noiie  and  Brebeuf  in  the  Huron  mission, 
Father  d'Aillon  went  south  into  the  territory  of  the  Neu- 
tral nation.  Brule,  the  interpreter,  had  been  the  only 
white  man  to  visit  this  region,  and  he  had  told  such  won- 
ders of  its  fertility  and  beauty  that  Father  Le  Caron  wrote 
to  D'Aillon  to  make  the  attempt.  It  is  a  region  often 
spoken  of  as  the  garden  of  the  present  Province  of  On- 
tario. A  line  drawn  from  Toronto,  on  Lake  Ontario,  to 
Goderich,  on  Lake  Huron,  would  roughly  indicate  its 
northern  boundary,  and  from  thence  it  extended  south  to 
the  north  shore  of  Lake  Erie.  To  the  east  it  reached 
across  the  Niagara  River  to  within  a  day's  journey  of  the 
Genessee  River — the  western  boundary  of  the  Iroquois. 
D'Aillon  describes  the  country  as  exceeding  rich,  abound- 
ing in  game  of  all  kinds  and  with  a  climate  less  severe 
than  the  other  parts  of  Canada.  It  had  twenty-eight 
towns  and  six  or  eight  villages.  The  people  were  numer- 
ous and  warlike  and  could  turn  out  four  thousand  war- 
riors. At  first  they  received  D'Aillon  with  politeness, 
but  when  he  began  to  inquire  about  the  entrance  to  the 
river  where  the  lake  discharged  and  to  suggest  a  trafiic 
directly  down  the  lake  and  river  to  the  French  posts,  the 
Hurons  took  the  alarm  lest  the  fur  trade  with  the  French 
should  go  direct  instead  of  passing  through  their  hands. 
They  secretly  whispered  that  D'Aillon  was  a  sorcerer 
who  cast  evil  spells  bringing  sickness  and  death.  Black 
looks  and  hatred  and  blows  followed,  until  the  Recollet 
was  forced  to  leave  and  postpone  to  a  more  auspicious 
time  the  evangelisation  of  this  fierce  people. 


300    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

The  war  between  the  Iroquois  and  the  northern  Indians 
broke  out  with  renewed  fury  in  1627.  No  further  dis- 
coveries are  recorded  for  some  years,  and  the  mission- 
aries busied  themselves  in  establishing  their  footing. 
D'Aillon,  and  Brebeuf,  with  most  of  the  French  in  the 
Huron  country,  went  down  to  Quebec  in  1627,  1628,  and 
1629,  and  the  three  Recollets  working  in  Acadia  were  also 
summoned  there,  so  that,  in  1629,  when  Quebec  was  sur- 
rendered to  the  English,  all  the  ecclesiastics  in  New 
France  were  at  Quebec  and  Tadoussac.  They  were  all 
carried  off  to  England,  and  the  incipient  churches  of  the 
Montagnais  at  Tadoussac,  the  Algonquins  at  Three  Rivers 
and  Lake  Nipissing,  and  the  Hurons  on  the  Freshwater 
Sea  were  abandoned.  The  few  converts  who  had  been 
made  were  left  without  spiritual  support.  Le  Caron,  the 
Superior  of  the  Recollets,  was  afterwards  blamed 
because  even  the  French  who  remained  at  Quebec  were 
deserted.  The  English  would  have  permitted  the  Recol- 
lets to  stay,  and  they  respected  their  convent,  but  they 
had  many  old  scores  to  pay  off  with  the  Jesuit  order  in 
Europe,  and  their  convent  was  pillaged  and  wrecked. 
Missions  and  discoveries  alike  ceased  until  the  country 
was  restored  to  France.  The  Recollet  order  disappeared 
from  the  annals  of  Canada  until  1670,  when  the  days 
of  discovery  in  the  St.  Lawrence  valley  were  almost 
over. 

It  was  July,  1632,  when  Emery  de  Caen  arrived  at  Que- 
bec and  again  took  over,  for  France,  the  sovereignty  of 
the  country.  He  had  obtained  a  monopoly  of  the  fur 
trade  for  a  year  to  indemnify  him  for  his  losses  in  the 
war.  With  him  came  the  Jesuits  Le  Jeune  and  La 
Noiie.  Champlain  arrived  the  following  year  and  re- 
tained command  for  the  "  Company  of  One  Hundred 
Associates,"  formed  by  Richelieu  in  1627,  and  with  him 
came  Jean  de  Brebeuf,  hastening  to  the  post  of  danger, 
and  to  the  cross  he  was  to  bear  and  the  crown  of  martyr- 
dom^  he  was  to  win.  There  was  a  pause  for  a  few  years 
in  discovery  in  order  to  gather  up  the  threads  of  the  work 
done  previously,  not  only  by  themselves,  but  by  the  Rec-: 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  301 

ollets,  for  the  latter  were  not  allowed  to  return.  The 
first  thought  of  Cardinal  Richelieu  was  to  replace  both 
orders  by  the  Capuchins;  and  in  fact  a  few  Capuchins 
were  sent  to  Acadia ;  but,  representations  being  made  on 
behalf  of  the  Jesuits  even  by  the  Capuchins  themselves, 
he  modified  his  commands  in  regard  to  the  Jesuits  only. 
That,  after  their  reorganisation  of  the  missions,  the 
Jesuits  may  have  objected  to  the  introduction  of  other 
religious  orders  is  probable  enough,  but  it  is  not  just  to 
blame  them  for  the  original  exclusion  of  the  Recollets. 
Richelieu  did  not  favour  the  Jesuit  order  and  his  action 
must  have  been  taken  with  regard  to  the  interest  of  the 
colony,  which  had  suffered  from  dissensions. 

In  Champlain's  commission,  as  late  as  1625,  he  was 
empowered  to  follow  up  the  river  flowing  past  Quebec 
and  to  seek  out  a  direct  passage  to  the  kingdom  of  China 
and  the  Eastern  Indies.  The  thought  never  left  him 
throughout  all  his  troubles,  and  while  the  Jesuits  were 
reorganising  their  mission-stations  he  turned,  in  1634, 
only  one  year  before  his  death,  to  Jean  Nicollet  and 
charged  him  with  the  discovery  of  the  secret  of  the  west- 
ern sea — the  great  water  of  the  west  of  which  he  had 
heard  reports  from  Brule  and  from  the  Indians.  Nicollet 
had  arrived  in  Canada  in  1618.  He  was  born  in  Nor- 
mandy, almost  certainly  in  Cherbourg.  At  Quebec  his 
courage  and  spirit  at  once  attracted  notice  and  his 
natural  capacity,  excellent  memory,  and  happy  temper- 
ament marked  him  out  as  suited  to  become  a  skilful 
interpreter  and  manager  of  the  fitful  Indian  allies  of 
France.  He  was  not  more  than  eighteen  or  twenty  years 
old  when  he  was  sent  to  the  Algonquins  of  Allumette 
Island.  He  lived  with  them  for  two  years  as  one  of 
themselves,  going  with  them  on  all  their  expeditions 
and  living  on  the  same  food — feasting  or  starving  as  the 
fortune  of  Indian  life  might  require.  He  had  learned 
their  language  perfectly,  and  went  with  four  hundred 
Algonquins  to  negotiate  the  peace  of  1622  with  the 
Iroquois,  on  which  occasion  he  acquitted  himself  well. 
Afterwards  he  went  to  the  Nipissings  and  settled  down 


302    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

among  them  for  eiglrt  or  nine  years.  They  adopted  him 
as  a  member  of  their  tribe  and  he  took  part  in  all  their 
councils.  His  skill  in  swaying  the  Indians  to  his  will 
was  very  remarkable,  and  when  Champlain  determined 
upon  another  attempt  to  reach  the  great  western  water 
there  was  no  other  man  so  well  fitted  as  Nicollet  for  the 
task.  He  had  returned  to  the  settlement,  after  the  restor- 
ation of  the  colony,  and  was  acting  as  clerk  and  inter- 
preter to  the  Company  at  Quebec. 

On  the  same  day  of  July,  1634,  three  expeditions 
started  from  Quebec:  Brebeuf  to  restore  the  Huron  mis- 
sion, Nicollet  on  his  western  exploration,  and  a  party  of 
men  sent  to  build  a  fort  and  make  a  permanent  settle- 
ment at  Three  Rivers — then  the  centre  of  the  western 
fur  trafific.  All  joined  in  the  ceremonies  at  Three  Rivers 
and  then  the  western  voyageurs  proceeded  on  their  way 
up  the  Ottawa.  Nicollet  left  Brebeuf  at  Allumette 
Island  and  went  on  to  his  old  friends  the  Nipissings. 
But  the  task  he  had  undertaken  lay  first  among  the 
Hurons ;  for  he  was  to  arrange  a  treaty  of  peace  between 
them  and  a  mysterious  people  further  west,  whose  home 
was  near  the  great  western  sea  and  who  had  lived  upon 
its  shores  in  former  years.  To  the  Huron  country  he 
therefore  proceeded,  and  having  made  his  preparations, 
he  started  in  a  bark  canoe  with  seven  Hurons  on  his 
adventurous  journey.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  his  object  was  to  visit  the  Strait  of  Ste.  Marie. 
That  was  already  known  and,  as  the  Sault  de  Gaston,  it 
had  been  laid  down  on  Champlain's  map,  published  in 
1632,  two  years  before.  What  was  not  known,  however, 
was  the  Strait  of  Michilimackinac  leading  into  Lake 
Michigan.  And  the  utter  confusion  of  the  geography 
of  that  region  is  shown  on  the  same  map.  Upon  that 
map  we  may  see  some  results  of  Brule's  explorations  to 
the  north,  in  the  copper  mine  laid  down  on  the  north 
shore  of  Lake  Huron  and  in  the  Sault  de  Gaston;  but, 
with  an  extraordinary  inversion  of  geographical  fact, 
Fox  River,  falling  into  Green  Bay,  Lake  Michigan,  is 
made  to  flow  from  the  north  and  to  drain  Lake  Winne- 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  303 

bag-o  into  the  north  channel  of  Lake  Huron  close  to  the 
Sault.  We  may  easily  conclude  then  that  Nicollet's 
course  would  be  directed  to  clear  up  this  confusion  and 
that  in  passing  out  of  Georgian  Bay  he  would  follow  the 
north  channel,  inside  of  the  Manitoulin  islands,  up  to  the 
Sault.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  Jesuit  Relation  of 
1640,  in  which  the  Superior,  Vimont,  writing  from  Que- 
bec, gives  a  list  of  the  Indian  nations  from  "the  Hurons, 
on  Georgian  Bay,  round  to  the  Sault,  evidently  following 
the  information  of  Nicollet,  then  permanently  resident  in 
Three  Rivers.  Returning  from  the  Sault  we  may  trace 
Nicollet's  course  backwards  following  the  south  channel 
through  "  a  smaller  lake  "  "  from  which  one  passes  into 
the  second  Freshwater  Sea."  There  are  difficulties  in 
the  narrative,  but,  translated  into  the  language  of  our 
present  maps,  it  appears  to  be  in  effect  that  Nicollet's 
course  from  the  Sault  was  along  the  southern  passages, 
inside  of  St.  Joseph's  Island,  which,  though  now  called 
Hay  Lake  and  Mud  Lake,  are  plainly  seen  in  passing 
through  to  be  simple  outlets.  These  open  out  into  an 
expanse,  Potaganissing  Bay,  which  is  so  closed  in  by 
overlapping  islands  as  to  present  the  appearance  of  a 
lake — the  "  smaller  lake  "  of  the  Relation.  Then  turn- 
ing suddenly  to  the  right,  Nicollet  passed  by  the  Detour 
channel  and  the  Strait  of  Michilimackinac  into  "  the 
second  Freshwater  Sea  " — Lake  Michigan. 

When  Jean  Nicollet  guided  his  bark  canoe  through 
the  Strait  of  Michilimackinac  he  turned  the  first  leaf  of 
the  final  chapter  of  the  exploration  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
basin.  It  is  the  key-point  of  the  western  lakes,  for  there 
Lakes  Superior,  Huron,  and  Michigan  touch  each  other 
and,  near  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  two 
enormous  basins  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi 
come  not  only  into  close  proximity,  but  their  waters  brim 
over  so  that  at  certain  seasons  a  canoe  might  pass  at  cer- 
tain points  either  down  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  or 
jdown  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  without  being  lifted  out  of 
the  water.  Indian  tribes  ebbed  and  flowed  through  this 
strait  in  the  ceaseless  vicissitudes  of  savage  warfare,  and 


304    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

romantic  legends  clustered  round  every  headland  and 
haunted  every  island.  In  the  very  neck  of  the  strait  the 
forest-clad  island  of  Michilimackinac  seems  to  float  on 
the  water,  rising  towards  the  centre  in  sweeping  curves — 
the  delightful  resort  of  pleasure-seekers  now,  as  in  far- 
oflF  times  it  was  the  favourite  abode  of  the  great  dancing 
spirits  of  Algonquin  mythology.  First  among  white  men 
Nicollet  passed  through  this  fairy  portal  going  to  he 
knew  not  what  of  mystery ;  looking  for  and  expecting  to 
find  the  pathway  to  the  golden  East.  He  was  prepared 
for  any  contingency  of  Eastern  state,  for  among  the 
scanty  baggage  in  his  birch  canoe  was  his  dress  of  cere- 
mony of  Chinese  damask,  embroidered  with  birds  and 
flowers  of  all  colours.  The  ripple  which  lapped  against 
the  bow  of  his  canoe  came  over  three  hundred  and  flfty 
miles  of  water,  but  he  did  not  know  it.  On  his  right  was 
Point  St.  Ignace,  soon  to  be  sanctified  by  the  presence  of 
the  saintly  Jesuit,  Marquette,  and  on  his  left  was  Mack- 
inac Point,  to  be  the  scene  in  later  years  of  Pontiac's  per- 
fidious massacre  of  a  British  garrison.  It  is  a  spot  of 
unrivalled  beauty.  Where  Nicollet's  solitary  canoe  glided 
quietly  on  with  no  sound  but  the  dip  of  the  paddles,  an 
enormous  traffic  from  the  western  lakes  now  passes. 
Monstrous  steamers  glide  up  and  down  on  inland  voyages 
of  perhaps  a  thousand  miles ;  but  the  distances  are  so 
great  that  the  eff'ect  of  calm  still  dwells  there  ;  and  whether 
the  smoke  on  the  distant  horizon  be  from  a  steamer 
bound  to  Port  Arthur,  on  Lake  Superior,  from  Chi- 
cago, or  Detroit,  or  even  Montreal,  there  is  space  as  of  the 
ocean  itself  and  no  sense  of  hurry  or  thronging  jars  even 
yet  the  restful  quiet  of  the  scene. 

Much  history  was  to  be  enacted  round  this  charmed 
region,  and  Nicollet  was  opening  the  book  as  he  pressed 
on.  His  mission  was,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  Win- 
nebagoes — the  men  of  the  sea ;  how  should  he  know  yet 
of  what  sea?  Champlain  had  heard  of  them  from  the 
Hurons,  with  whom  they  were  at  war,  and  now  he  was 
sending  Nicollet  to  discover  them  and  their  sea,  if  it  were 
possible;   and   to  negotiate   a   peace   also   and   open   up 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  305 

trade — trade  west  of  Chicago — and  the  Pilgrims  only 
fourteen  years  landed  at  Plymouth!  The  clew  to  the 
secret  of  America  lay  along  the  St.  Lawrence  waters, 
and  Champlain  almost  solved  it  while  the  sound  of  the 
wash  of  the  Atlantic  was  still  in  the  ears  of  the  English 
settlers. 

Hitherto  the  French  had  come  into  contact  with  only 
two  families  of  Indian  nations — the  Huron-Iroquois  and 
the  Algonquins;  and  the  Algonquin  language  had  been 
a  lingua  franca  intelligible,  through  many  dialects,  from 
the  Atlantic  to  Lake  Superior.  But  now  Nicollet  reached 
the  eastern  outlier  of  a  race  different  from  both,  and 
neither  the  Huron  nor  the  Algonquin  tongue  was  of  any 
service.  The  Winnebagoes  were  of  Dakota  stock — a 
powerful  family  of  nations  of  which  the  Sioux  confedera- 
tion and  the  Assiniboines  are  the  chief  members.  Their 
home  is  on  the  plains  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  but 
these  Winnebagoes  had  drifted  away  eastward  nearly  to 
Lake  Michigan.  The  French  followed  the  more  usual 
meaning  of  the  Indian  name  and  translated  it  Puant;  so 
that  the  Winnebagoes  are  laid  down  on  the  French  maps 
and  figure  in  French  works  for  a  hundred  years  as  the  Na- 
tion des  Puants,  and  Green  Bay  as  La  Baie  des  Piiants — a 
malodorous  and  misleading  name.  This  was  recognised 
from  the  first,  for  Vimont,  in  the  Jesuit  Relation  of  1640, 
writing  almost  from  Nicollet's  lips,  thus  explains  the 
word :  "  Some  Frenchmen  call  them  the  Nation  des 
Puants  (Nation  of  Stinkards)  because  the  xMgonquin 
word  Ouinipeg  means  stinking  water;  but  they  call  the 
water  of  the  salt  sea  by  the  same  name,  so  that  these 
people  are  called  Ouinipegu  (Winnebago)  because  they 
come  from  the  shores  of  a  sea  unknown  to  us,  and  conse- 
quently they  ought  not  to  be  called  the  Nation  des  Puants 
but  the  Nation  de  la  mer  (Nation  of  the  Sea)."  The 
word  is  an  Algonquin  translation  of  the  name  of  these 
people,  who  had  formerly  lived  upon  the  "  great  water  " 
(Mississippi),  but  the  great  water  of  the  ocean  is  dirty 
water  in  the  Algonquin  languages.  Bishop  Barega  in  his 
Ojibway   Dictionary   explains   it  as   follows:     "  Winni- 


3o6    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

peg — Swamp,  or,  better,  salt  water,  unclean  water.  The 
Indians  call  Lake  Winnipeg  the  great  water,  the  great 
sea.  and  use  the  same  expression  for  the  salt  water  of  the 
sea  "  The  Relation  of  1640  is  confirmed  in  that  explana- 
tion by  the  Relation  of  1656.  But  the  Relation  of  1660, 
while  it  admits  that  salt  water  is  dirty  water  in  Indian 
phrase,  goes  on  to  explain  that  the  reason  of  the  name 
was  the  frequency  of  sulphur  springs  in  that  re- 
gion— which  certainly  is  not  true.  Father  Marquette 
was  struck  with  the  inappropriateness  of  the  name,  and 
when  he  passed  there  in  1673  ^vrote:  "  This  bay  bears  a 
name  which  had  not  so  bad  a  meaning  in  the  Indian  lan- 
guage, for  they  call  it  rather  '  Salt  Bay '  than  *  Fetid 
Bay,'  although  among  them  it  is  almost  the  same,  and 
this  is  also  the  name  they  give  to  the  sea.  This  induced 
us  to  make  very  exact  researches  to  discover  whether 
there  were  not  in  those  parts  some  salt  springs,  as  there 
are  among  the  Iroquois,  but  we  could  not  find  any.  We 
accordingly  concluded  that  the  name  has  been  given  on 
account  of  the  quantity  of  slime  and  mud  there,  constantly 
exhaling  noisome  vapours  which  cause  the  loudest  and 
longest  peals  of  thunder  that  I  ever  heard."  The  good 
father  was  beyond  question  mistaken  ;  for  the  country  has 
no  such  characteristics ;  in  fact,  the  valley  of  the  Fox 
River  from  Lake  Winnebago  to  Green  Bay  is  now  the 
seat  of  some  of  the  largest  paper  mills  of  the  West,  and  in 
a  country  where  water  power  is  abundant  such  an  indus- 
try as  paper  making  would  not  be  extensively  established 
unless  the  water  was  pure.  The  name  puant  has  no 
foundation  in  fact,  and  is  a  curious  reminder  of  the  per- 
sistent expectation  in  those  days  of  finding  the  great  sea 
of  China  and  Japan  in  every  extensive  sheet  of  water 
reported  by  Indians  to  exist  in  the  unknown  and  mys- 
terious W^est. 

To  reach  the  "people  of  the  sea"  (gens  de  la  mer), 
then.  Nicollet  paddled  along  the  western  shore  of  Lake 
Michigan,  and  keeping  still  to  the  right  hand,  turned  into 
what  is  now  Green  Bay.  There  on  the  Menominee  River, 
which  falls  in  on  the  north  shore  of  the  bay,  he  met  the 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  307 

Indians  called  by  the  French  Les  Folks  Avoines,  by  the 
English  in  after  years  Menomonees,  an  Algonquin  word 
signifying  wild  rice  (called  wild  oats  by  the  French),  for 
those  Indians  used  it  largely  as  food.  They  were  of 
Algonquin  stock  and  doubtless  Nicollet  remained  a  short 
time  with  them,  for  it  is  recorded  that  he  sent  one  of  the 
Hurons  in  advance  to  announce  his  approach  to  these 
people  of  strange  speech.  Then  he  pushed  on  to  the  head 
of  the  bay,  where,  at  the  mouth  of  Fox  River,  he  found 
the  Winnebagoes.  His  envoy  had  been  well  received  and 
four  or  five  thousand  people  came  to  meet  him  and  young 
men  were  sent  to  carry  his  baggage  to  the  village.  They 
had  heard  of  the  wonderful  white  men  and  supposed  them 
to  be  spirits.  Nicollet  donned  his  embroidered  robe  of 
Chinese  damask  and  advanced,  discharging  a  pistol  in 
each  hand.  It  was  a  Manitou  wielding  thunder  and  light- 
ning, and  the  women  and  children  fled  in  terror.  The 
chiefs  gave  him  a  warm  welcome  and  a  course  of  feasting 
on  a  lavish  scale,  for  one  chief  served  up  one  hundred  and 
twenty  beavers  at  a  single  entertainment.  The  peace  he 
was  sent  to  arrange  was  soon  negotiated  and  Nicollet  had 
leisure  to  examine  the  country  and  become  acquainted 
with  the  neighbouring  tribes.  He  went  up  the  Fox  River, 
passed  through  Lake  Winnebago  and  followed  the  upper 
river  as  far  as  the  portage  to  the  Wisconsin.  Nicollet 
told  Father  Le  Jeune  that  three  days'  more  travel  would 
have  brought  him  to  the  sea,  for  the  Algonquin  word 
Mississippi  means  great  water,  not  "  father  of  waters," 
and,  misled  by  the  name,  he  thought  he  was  only  three 
days'  distance  from  the  south  sea.  Father  Vimont  wrote 
in  1640 :  "  I  have  a  strong  conviction  that  this  sea  is  part 
of  that  on  the  north  of  New  Mexico  and  by  it  is  a  passage 
to  Japan  and  China."  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
Nicollet  passed  into  the  Wisconsin  River,  but  it  seems 
clear  that  he  stood  upon  the  water-parting  between  the 
basins  of  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence.  It  is  only  a 
mile  and  a  half  wide. 

After    his    voyage    Nicollet    returned    to   the    Huron 
country,  where  the  Jesuit  Fathers  had  been  labouring  with 


3o8    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

some  success.  Abandoning  their  first  idea  of  setting  up 
a  separate  mission  in  each  of  the  larger  towns  they  decided 
upon  one  central  establishment  from  which  to  work  all 
their  stations,  and  they  chose  a  spot  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  river  Wye,  where  it  issues  from  Mud  Lake  to  fall 
into  Gloucester  Bay,  near  the  present  city  of  Midland. 
There  they  built  the  residence  or  mission  of  Sainte  Marie 
of  the  Hurons,  fortified  with  palisades  and  flanked  with 
bastions — an  establishment  of  considerable  extent,  with  a 
church,  and  buildings  for  various  uses,  and  lodgings  for 
sixty  men.  The  three  Jesuit  priests,  Brebeuf,  Daniel,  and 
Davost,  who  went  up  with  Nicollet,  were  gradually 
increased  to  eighteen.  There  were,  besides,  four  lay 
brothers  and  forty  to  fifty  Frenchmen.  Fifteen  of  the 
priests  went  out  to  their  dififerent  stations,  and  those  in 
residence  carried  on  the  services  of  the  church  with  a 
ceremony  which  impressed  the  Indians.  It  was  a  busy 
community,  for  the  fathers  exercised  a  generous  hospi- 
tality and  provided  for  all  wants  by  cultivating  maize  and 
procuring  game  and  fish  from  the  woods  and  waters 
around.  Starving  Indians  clustered  about  it  in  time  of 
scarcity,  and  were  never  refused  food.  It  was  a  time  of 
organisation,  not  of  discovery,  and  during  these  years 
there  is  no  record  of  any  notable  exploration,  but  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  were  constantly  adding  to  their  knowledge, 
and  extending  their  operations  among  neighbouring 
tribes. 

In  1 64 1,  at  a  great  "  feast  for  the  dead,"  held  by  the 
Nipissings,  there  was  a  great  assemblage  of  people  of  dif- 
ferent nations,  and  Fathers  Pi j art  and  Raymbault,  who 
were  there  serving  the  mission  of  St.  Esprit,  made  great 
effort  to  gain  the  good-will  of  all,  and  were  invited  by 
the  Algonquins  who  lived  at  the  Sault  to  visit  their  coun- 
try. These  people  were  afterwards  known  as  the  Sau- 
teurs  and  the  Ojibways.  Fathers  Raymbault  and  Jogues 
were  selected  for  the  attempt  and  left  Ste.  Marie  of  the 
Hurons  in  September.  It  took  them  seventeen  days  to 
paddle  along  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Huron  to  the 
Sault.    They    found    two    thousand    savages    assembled 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  309 

there  and  met  people  of  many  nations  at  a  council.  There 
they  heard  of  the  great  nation  of  the  Nadouessieux,  now 
abbreviated  to  Sioux,  who  dwelt  eighteen  days'  journey 
from  the  Sault  across  the  lake  (Superior)  and  upon  a 
river  cutting  through  the  country.  If  Brule  had  tra- 
versed the  lake  the  information  of  the  Jesuits  would  have 
been  more  precise,  but  they  knew  very  little  about  it,  and 
did  not  know  that  the  river  of  the  Sioux  was  the  great 
water  Nicollet  had  been  in  search  of  and  had  been  within 
three  days  of  reaching. 

By  this  expedition  and  by  Lalemant's  narrative,  em- 
bodied in  Vimont's  Relation  of  1641,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  Jesuits  had  grasped  in  idea  the  main  feature  of  the 
geographical  system  of  the  lake  region.  Vimont  writes 
of  the  Niagara  River  as  the  "  famous  river  of  the  Neutral 
Nation,"  and  continues :  "  This  is  that  river  by  which 
our  great  Lake  of  the  Hurons  is  discharged.  It  flows 
first  into  Lake  Erie,  or  the  Lake  of  the  Cat  nation,  and  at 
that  point  it  enters  the  territory  of  the  Neutral  nation  and 
takes  the  name  of  Onguiaaha  up  to  where  it  is  discharged 
into  Ontario,  or  the  Lake  of  St.  Louis,  from  whence  issues 
the  St.  Lawrence  River,  which  flows  past  Quebec."  This 
information  would  have  been  obtained  by  Fathers  Brebeuf 
and  Chaumonot,  who  went  in  1640  on  a  mission,  more 
perilous  than  any  forlorn  hope,  to  the  Neutral  nation, 
the  fiercest  and  most  intractable  savages  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence valley.  But  no  hint  appears  of  the  Falls  of 
Niagara,  which  could  not  have  escaped  remark  if  they 
had  been  seen.  The  two  priests  could  not  have  reached 
the  river,  for  from  the  first  they  encountered  the  curses 
of  every  village  they  entered,  and  having  suffered  every 
kind  of  indignity  and  violence,  barely  escaped  with  their 
lives.  It  is  not  until  1648  that  we  learn  of  the  Falls  from 
Father  Rageneau.  After  writing  of  Lake  Erie  he  adds 
that  it  "  passes  on  to  precipitate  itself  by  a  fall  of  a  fright- 
ful height  into  a  third  lake  called  Ontario,  which  we  call 
St.  Louis."  Still,  however,  there  is  nothing  to  indicate 
that  any  white  explorer  had  seen  the  Falls,  and  certainly 
if  any  missionary  had  walked  along  the  Niagara  River  he 


310    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

would  not  fail  to  have  left  a  record  of  a  scene  so  remark- 
able and,  in  many  respects,  unique. 

The  storm,  long  blackening  in  the  South  and  breaking 
out  from  time  to  "time  in  intermitting  flashes,  now  began 
to  gather  for  its  final  outbreak.  The  devoted  Brebeuf, 
with  the  mystical  insight  which  often  enlightens  a  lofty 
soul  as  the  end  of  its  earthly  career  draws  near,  saw  it 
coming  and  rose  to  meet  it  with  passion  for  a  martyr's 
death.  "  Sentio  me  vchcmenter  impelli  ad  moricndum  pro 
Christo,"  he  wrote.  The  time  was  near,  but  had  not  come 
when,  driven  out  of  the  Neutral  country  in  the  winter, 
the  two  priests  were  struggling  back  towards  St.  Mary  of 
the  Hurons,  Brebeuf  left  his  comrade  to  the  sleep  of  ex- 
haustion and  went  to  pray  in  the  neighbouring  forest. 
Before  he  reached  the  shadow  he  looked  up  into  the  clear 
starlight  and  he  saw  a  great  bright  cross  moving  swiftly 
towards  him  from  the  southeast — from  the  country  of  the 
Iroquois,  and  its  meaning  was  borne  in  upon  his  soul. 
The  following  day  they  resumed  their  journey  and  as 
Brebeuf  described  the  mystic  cross,  Chaumonot  asked 
"  Was  it  large  ?  "  "  Large  enough,"  replied  the  other,  "  to 
crucify  us  all."  In  the  clear,  thin  atmosphere  of  ecstatic 
vision  the  boundaries  of  the  physical  and  metaphysical 
overlap,  and  by  some  radiancy  of  the  soul  the  supernatural 
becomes  the  natural.  Who  shall  say  that  the  light  which 
irradiated  the  face  of  the  protomartyr,  Stephen,  disdained 
the  upturned  visage  of  the  solitary  wayworn  priest  kneel- 
ing in  earnest  supplication  at  the  edge  of  the  dark, 
primaeval  forest? 

From  1 64 1  communication  between  Quebec  and  the 
upper  country  became  increasingly  difficult,  for  small  war 
parties  of  Iroquois  infested  all  the  routes  of  travel.  Mon- 
treal was  founded  in  1642,  but  no  settler  dared  venture 
away  from  the  fort  to  hunt  or  fish  or  clear  the  forest. 
The  Mohawks  prowled  incessantly  round  the  little  settle- 
ment and  the  war  whoop  from  the  adjoining  forest  often 
startled  Jeanne  Mance  and  her  devoted  hospital  sisters 
from  their  slmmbers.  A  few  months  of  peace  supervened 
in  1645-46,  and  then,  in  1648,  the  war  broke  out  with  in- 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WEST  311 

creased  intensity.  In  1649  the  Huron  towns  were  taken, 
one  after  the  other,  by  assault.  The  pitiless  ferocity  of 
the  Iroquois  warriors  raged  throughout  the  whole  country 
of  the  Hurons,  insatiable  in  massacre  and  torture.  The 
Jesuit  missionaries,  Brebeuf  and  Lalemant,  perished  at 
the  stake,  after  exhausting  the  fiendish  ingenuity  of 
Indian  tortures.  Garnier,  Daniel,  and  Chabanel  were 
tomahawked.  The  remains  of  the  Huron  nation  were 
scattered  among  the  neighbouring  tribes  and  the 
triumphant  Iroquois  gloated  over  a  wilderness  de- 
populated from  the  palisades  of  the  French  fort  at 
Montreal  to  the  Strait  of  Michilimackinac.  Champlain 
was  right.  It  was  well  to  send  the  missionaries  to 
evangelise  the  Hurons,  but  the  six-score  light-^rmed 
soldiers  he  applied  for  would  have  been  a  solid  nucleus 
around  which  the  Hurons  and  Algonquins  might  have 
rallied  and  become  a  firm  basis  for  the  spread  of  civilisa- 
tion to  more  distant  tribes. 


CHAPTER    XIX 

EXPLORATION    RESUMED    AND    POSSESSION    TAKEN    FOR 
FRANCE 

THE  scene  of  interest  now  shifts,  and  for  a  few 
years  exploration  paused.  The  Huron  country, 
formerly  so  populous,  lay  silent,  and  the  forest 
began  to  grow  over  the  ashes  of  the  burned 
villages.  The  Huron  church,  planted  with  so  great  toil 
and  hardship,  was  blasted ;  the  banner  of  the  Gospel 
was  thrown  down,  and  for  a  time  paganism  triumphed 
over  the  cross.  It  was  a  sore  trial  of  faith  to  the 
Jesuit  Fathers.  As  for  their  wild  neophytes  we  must 
not  despise  them.  Their  Christianity  may  have  been 
rudimentary,  but  their  opportunity  had  been  short.  For 
sixteen  centuries  Christianity  had  been  striving  with  the 
nations  of  Europe,  and  the  result  had  not  been  so  perfect 
as  to  lead  us  to  expect  more  from  the  sixteen  years  of 
Huron  missions.  The  cruelties  of  savage  warfare  were 
indeed  appalling;  but  from  the  sack  of  Magdeburg  in 
1 63 1  to  the  destruction  of  the  Huron  towns  in  1649  is  not 
a  far  stretch,  either  in  time  or  in  cruelty.  Nature  over- 
flowed to  cover  quickly  the  scars  made  by  the  hate  of 
man.  The  blood-stained  soil  was  soon  clothed  with  a 
dense  mantle  of  forest,  and  when  the  English  settlers  a 
hundred  and  seventy  years  later  cleared  the  land,  unde- 
fined mounds  and  bone  pits  and  relics  of  domestic  utensils, 
or  warlike  weapons,  alone  witnessed  to  the  tragedy  of 
blood  which  had  been  enacted  in  that  sylvan  paradise. 

It  was  a  pious  reflection  of  some  of  the  good  fathers 
and  one  that  served  to  support  the  strain  upon  their  faith, 
that  Providence,  in  permitting  the  Huron  nation  to  be 
scattered,  designed  to  scatter  also  the  seeds  of  Christianity 
and  to  open  up  the  western  tribes  to  the  influence  of  the 

312 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       31^ 

Gospel.  So  at  least  it  turned  out;  for,  subsequently,  in 
following  up  those  remnants  who  went  westward,  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  found  the  paths  which  led  to  the  "  great 
water  "  nearly  reached  by  Nicollet  in  1634.  In  1639  they 
dreamed  of  it  as  the  avenue  to  the  Vermilion  Sea  of  the 
Southern  Ocean  and,  in  1641,  Jogues  and  Raymbault 
stood  for  a  short  time  upon  its  threshold  at  the  Sault. 

The  tide  of  massacre  had  swept  up  close  to  the  palisades 
of  St.  Mary  on  the  Wye.  There  were  forty  Frenchmen 
within  the  fort,  who  would  have  sold  their  lives  dearly, 
waiting  hour  after  hour  with  strained  attention  for  the 
impending  assault.  A  party  of  Christian  Hurons,  after 
inflicting  severe  loss  on  the  Iroquois,  had  been  overborne 
until  scarcely  twenty  were  left.  The  enemy's  scouts 
began  to  peer  through  the  outskirts  of  the  surrounding 
forest,  while  all  through  the  night  the  priests  within  the 
chapel  put  up  incessant  supplication,  especially  to  St. 
Joseph.  The  day  dawned — it  was  St.  Joseph's  own  fes- 
tival— when  they  found  that  an  uncontrollable  panic  had 
seized  the  Iroquois,  who  were  retiring  with  their  prison- 
ers. They  had  lost  a  hundred  of  their  best  warriors  in 
the  last  battle  and  they  did  not  care  to  attack  a  garrison 
of  forty  desperate  Frenchmen  armed  with  fire-arms.  In 
those  days,  as  in  all  times  of  supreme  trial,  the  super- 
natural seemed  very  near,  and  in  the  sudden  retreat  of  the 
Iroquois  the  good  fathers  recognised  the  influence  of  an 
unseen  power.  They  knew  that  respite  would  be  short, 
and,  moved  by  the  entreaties  of  the  remaining  Hurons, 
they  set  fire  to  their  fort — to  the  chapel  where  they  had 
found  the  support  which  had  sustained  them  in  all  their 
trials,  and  to  all  the  buildings,  and  retreated  to  an  island 
off  the  northern  point  of  Nottawasaga  Bay,  which  they 
called  St.  Joseph's  Island,  but  which  now  appears  as 
Christian  Island  on  our  maps.  There  they  built  a  fort 
and  around  it  gathered  about  three  hundred  families  of 
Hurons ;  but  the  island  was  small  and  all  communication 
with  Quebec  was  cut  off.  During  the  winter  famine 
drove  a  swarm  of  starving  savages  in  upon  the  fort  to  be 
fed  by  the  charity  of  the  fathers.     No  one  dared  to  set 


314    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

foot  upon  the  mainland,  for  Iroquois  war  parties  infested 
the  whole  region.  Urged  by  the  chiefs  to  lead  them  to  a 
place  of  safety,  the  Jesuits  resolved  to  abandon  all  the 
missions  in  the  West,  and  taking  with  them  about  three 
hundred  souls — the  remnant  of  their  flock — they  started 
on  a  melancholy  retreat  down  the  Ottawa.  "  With 
tears  "  (writes  the  narrator  of  1650)  "  we  left  the  coun- 
try which  we  loved,  around  which  all  our  hopes  had 
centred  and  which,  reddened  by  the  blood  of  our  glori- 
fied brethren,  promised  to  open  up  to  us  also  the  road  to 
Heaven  and  the  gate  of  Paradise."  All  the  way  was 
marked  by  traces  of  Iroquois  triumph.  The  Nipissings 
had  been  massacred.  The  Algonquins  of  Allumette 
Island  were  slaughtered  or  dispersed.  The  retreating 
Hurons  were  completely  cowed  and,  refusing  to  stop  even 
at  Montreal,  hastened  to  the  shelter  of  the  guns  of  Quebec. 
They  settled  first  on  the  Island  of  Orleans ;  but  even 
there,  a  few  years  later,  the  Mohawk  scalping  knife 
reached  them.  At  last  they  removed  to  Lorette,  on  the 
St.  Charles,  near  Quebec,  where  to  this  day  a  few  indi- 
viduals represent  in  their  earliest  home  the  people  who, 
under  Donnacona,  first  greeted  the  French  under  Cartier. 
In  the  West  the  work  of  destruction  went  on.  The 
powerful  Neutral  nation  was  scattered.  The  Erie  na- 
tion was  annihilated.  Tradition  tells  of  more  than  a 
thousand  fires  alight  at  one  time  and  in  each  fire  a  stake 
to  which  was  bound  a  writhing  Erie.  The  picture  may 
be  somewhat  overdrawn  as  to  the  number  at  one  time,  but 
it  is  in  the  main  true,  and  there  is  nothing  in  Dante's 
Inferno  more  horrible.  The  Hurons  and  their  near  rela- 
tives, the  Tobacco  nation,  long  wandered  in  search  of  a 
safe  retreat.  A  large  band  of  them  fled  to  the  Manitoulin 
Islands  and  from  thence  to  Michilimackinac,  but  Iroquois 
war  parties  sought  them  out.  They  went  to  the  islands 
at  the  mouth  of  Green  Bay  of  Lake  Michigan,  but  found 
no  safety.  Hunted  thence  they  fled  to  the  territories  of 
the  Illinois  and  the  Sioux,  upon  the  Mississippi,  and 
from  thence  they  retired  up  the  St.  Croix  and  Black 
rivers.    At  last  they  found  refuge  at  Chequamegon  Bay 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       315 

in  the  southwest  corner  of  Lake  Superior.  There,  within 
reach  of  the  head-waters  of  the  Mississippi,  they  dwelt 
until  their  renewed  arrogance  provoked  the  Sioux  to 
drive  them  out. 

In  1653,  when  the  whole  colony  of  New  France  was  in 
despair  from  the  incursions  of  the  Iroquois,  to  the  sur- 
prise of  all  the  Onondagas  made  proposals  of  peace,  and 
the  exploration  of  the  western  country  recommenced  with 
the  reviving  fur  trade.  In  1654  two  young  French- 
men left  for  the  far  West  and  the  Relation  of  1656 
chronicles  their  return  with  fifty  loaded  canoes  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  savages.  Their  names  have  not  been 
recorded,  nor  the  localities  they  visited ;  but  from  the 
names  of  the  tribes  mentioned,  it  is  clear  that  they  had 
been  on  Lake  Michigan,  on  the  Fox  River,  and  probably 
on  Lake  Superior.  They  brought  messages  from  distant 
nations  asking  for  missionaries.  Thirty  young  French- 
men started  to  return  with  them,  but  their  courage  failed 
them  when  they  heard  of  the  dangers  on  the  road. 
Fathers  Druillettes  and  Garreau,  with  a  lay  brother  and 
three  other  Frenchmen  of  their  party,  persevered  until 
they  fell  into  an  ambuscade  of  Mohawks,  who  mortally 
wounded  Father  Garreau.  The  Algonquins  escaped  in 
the  night,  leaving  all  the  Frenchmen  behind.  The  Iro- 
quois were  at  peace  with  the  French,  but  not  with  the 
Hurons  and  Algonquins.  The  Mohawks  carried  Father 
Garreau  to  Montreal,  where  he  died,  and,  after  the  cus- 
tom of  their  people,  they  made  their  apology  by  giving  a 
present,  and  the  haughty  savages  took  care  that  it  was  a 
small  one. 

The  way  to  the  west  was  opened  up  again  by  two  fur- 
traders,  whose  daring  enterprise  places  them  among  the 
chief  of  western  pioneers.  Medard  Chouart,  called  after 
some  property  he  had,  Sieur  des  Groseilliers,  had  been  in 
the  employ  of  the  Jesuits  and,  with  them,  had  shared  the 
dangers  and  excitements  of  the  Huron  missions  and 
become  familiar  with  the  Ottawa  route  and  the  Huron 
waters.  In  1646  he  left  their  service  and  began  trading 
on  his  own  account  with  the  Indians  and,  in  1647,  he 


3i6    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

married,  as  his  first  wife,  Helene,  daughter  of  Abraham 
Martin,  whose  name  has  been  perpetuated  in  history  in 
the  "  Plains  of  Abraham,"  the  theatre  of  the  struggle  be- 
tween Wolfe  and  Montcalm.  Three  Rivers  was  then  the 
focus  of  the  fur  trade,  and  in  165 1  the  Radisson  family 
came  out  from  France  and  settled  there.  Two  daughters 
came  and  one  son,  Pierre  Esprit  Radisson — whose  life 
and  adventures,  written  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  only 
recently  discovered  and  published,  surpass  in  interest  the 
creations  of  any  writer  of  romances.  He  had  not  been 
long  in  Canada  when  he  was  captured  by  Mohawks  while 
hunting  near  Three  Rivers.  He  was  tied  at  the  stake  for 
burning,  and  after  suffering  the  preliminary  tortures  of 
having  some  of  his  finger  nails  torn  out  and  being  a  target 
for  the  arrows  of  the  village  youth,  he  was  adopted  by  a 
Mohawk  woman  and  became  a  member  of  her  family  and 
a  favourite  in  the  tribe.  He  escaped  in  company  with 
some  Algonquin  captives,  and  when  he  had  nearly  reached 
home,  was  again  captured.  Although  three  Mohawks 
had  been  killed  in  his  flight  his  adopted  relatives  again 
saved  him  when  at  the  stake.  A  second  attempt  suc- 
ceeded. He  got  away  to  the  Dutch  post  at  Orange 
(Albany)  and  was  taken  to  Holland,  from  whence  he 
returned  to  Canada. 

The  Jesuits  had  opened  a  mission  among  the  Onon- 
dagas,  and  in  1657  two  of  the  fathers  were  sent  to 
strengthen  it,  and  with  them  went  a  small  party  of 
Frenchmen.  Radisson  could  not  resist  the  opportunity, 
and  his  knowledge  of  the  Iroquois  language  and  customs 
made  him  a  welcome  addition  to  the  party.  As  the 
spring  approached  the  Jesuits  became  aware  that  the  Iro- 
quois were  preparing  to  massacre  the  whole  mission. 
Their  position  was  difficult.  The  fort  was  built  on 
Onondaga  Lake  in  the  heart  of  the  Iroquois  country ;  a 
small  stream  led  into  the  Oswego  River,  which,  after  a 
course  of  about  thirty-five  miles,  falls  into  Lake  Ontario. 
The  French  dissembled  their  suspicions,  and,  in  the  loft 
over  their  fort,  built  canoes.  When  the  spring  sun 
opened  the  river  they  made  a  great  feast,  and  invited  the 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       317 

whole  village — and  here  we  may  conceive  that  Radisson's 
Mohawk  experience  was  especially  useful.  It  was  a  re- 
ligious feast  savouring  dangerously  of  paganism,  and 
savage  ceremonial  imperatively  required  that  everything 
presented  should  be  eaten.  The  lives  of  the  party 
depended  upon  it,  and  never  in  the  Indian  country  was 
hospitality  so  profuse — maize,  hogs,  bustards,  ducks, 
turtles,  eels,  carp,  and  everything  else  that  could  be 
thought  of  were  brought  in,  while  the  savages  solemnly 
ate  until  even  they  could  eat  no  more.  In  vain  did  they 
beg  for  surcease.  The  French  urged  upon  them  their 
religious  duty,  and  even  soothed  their  gastronomic  efforts 
by  playing  on  some  musical  instruments  they  had.  At 
last,  gorged  like  boa-constrictors,  the  Indians  fell  back, 
their  eyelids  closed  over  their  bulging  eyeballs,  and  they 
slept  the  sleep  of  repletion.  When  the  last  man  dropped 
the  French  got  their  canoes,  and  by  the  time  day  dawned, 
and  the  savages  recovered,  they  were  far  down  the 
Oswego  River.  A  fortunate  snowfall  obliterated  their 
tracks,  and  to  the  puzzled  savages  it  seemed  as  if  the 
Frenchmen  had  flown  away  in  the  night.  The  episode  is 
Homeric — it  is  Ulysses  escaping  from  the  cave  of  Poly- 
phemus ;  but  this  plot  was  far  better  designed,  and  better 
executed. 

Radisson  arrived  at  Three  Rivers  the  same  spring,  and 
found  his  brother-in-law  Chouart  preparing  for  a  voy- 
age to  the  great  lakes.  It  was  another  opportunity  for 
adventure  not  to  be  resisted.  Chouart  had  heard  from  the 
Indians  of  new  tribes  in  the  further  West,  and  these  he 
was  intent  on  discovering.  This  voyage  was  the  begin- 
ning of  a  joint  career,  which  united  the  brothers-in-law 
(for  Chouart  had  married  Radisson's  sister  Marguerite 
for  his  second  wife)  in  a  loyal  and  warm  partnership  of 
adventure  and  friendship  throughout  their  lives.  In  the 
middle  of  June,  1658,  they  started  westward  with  twenty- 
nine  Frenchmen  in  the  party,  and  a  number  of  savages. 
They  had  to  take  up  a  few  more  at  Montreal,  but  as 
Iroquois  spies  were  watching  all  movements  there,  they 
got  them  away  as  quietly  as  possible.     On  the  lake  above 


3i8    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

they  overtook  a  party  of  boisterous  young  Frenchmen 
who  were  making  a  picnic  of  passing  through  a  country 
infested  by  Iroquois.  The  natural  result  followed.  The 
straggling  and  disorderly  party  were  attacked  suddenly, 
a  number  were  killed,  others  were  captured,  and  the  rest 
got  back  as  best  they  could  to  Montreal.  Chouart  and 
Radisson  were,  however,  made  of  different  stuff.  They 
escaped  westwards,  and,  with  their  own  Indians,  hurried 
up  the  Ottawa  with  a  speed  which  outstripped  pursuit 
until  they  reached  Lake  Nipissing  (Lake  of  the  Castors), 
where  they  could  rest.  From  thence  they  passed  down 
French  River  to  the  "  bay  of  crystal  water,  full  of  islands, 
and  abounding  in  fish,"  which  we  at  once  recognise  as 
Georgian  Bay.  There  the  party  divided;  those  for  the 
Sault  went  west-north-west,  and  the  rest  went  south. 

Chouart  and  Radisson  were  not  yet  ready  to  explore 
the  North.  They  went  with  the  south-bound  party,  and, 
in  a  course  of  many  days,  they  made  very  nearly  a  cir- 
cuit of  Lake  Huron.  They  coasted  along  the  pleasant 
shores  of  the  deserted  paradise  of  Jesuit  hope,  and  saw 
the  clearings  of  its  former  population.  They  penetrated 
to  the  south  of  the  lake,  and  noted  its  freedom  from 
islands ;  then  returning  northwards  they  stayed  for  a 
while  on  one  of  the  Manitoulin  islands.  The  sheet  of 
water  cut  off  by  islands  from  the  "  great  lake  of  the 
Hurons,"  they  call  the  "  Lake  of  the  Staring  Hairs."  It 
included  what  is  now  known  as  the  north  channel,  and 
was  named  from  the  Chcvcux  Releves,  or  Ottawas,  who 
lived  on  the  Manitoulin  Islands.  Some  Iroquois  were 
traced  lurking  round,  and  Radisson  won  the  heart  of  his 
hosts  by  leading  a  war  party  and  bringing  home  eight 
dead  and  three  living  of  the  prowlers.  The  dead,  he 
calmly  writes,  were  eaten,  and  "  the  living  burned  with  a 
slow  fire  to  the  rigour  of  cruelties,"  which,  he  adds,  "  com- 
forted the  desolate  "  relatives  of  slain  Ottawas.  While 
staying  with  the  Ottawas  some  Pottawatomies  arrived, 
and  the  two  adventurers  went  with  them  to  their  home  at 
the  mouth  of  Green  Bay  on  Lake  Michigan.  This  was 
the  "  Bale  des  Puants,"  on  the  "  Lac  des  Puants,"  or,  to 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       319 

use  once  for  all  the  names  of  Radisson's  narrative — "  the 
small  Lake  of  the  Stinkings  "  on  the  "  great  Lake  of  the 
Stinkings,"  an  undeservedly  disagreeable  name  applied, 
as  already  explained,  by  a  persistent  philological  freak  to 
a  charming  region.  There  they  made  the  acquaintance 
of  the  Mascoutins,  or  '*  Nation  of  Fire,"  as  the  name 
was  mistranslated. 

During  the  whole  winter  of  1658,  and  the  spring  of 
1659,  the  two  brothers-in-law  wandered  at  their  will  from 
their  camp  at  Green  Bay,  up  the  Fox  River,  and  over 
Wisconsin  and  the  adjoining  territories,  and  saw  many 
sedentary  nations,  living  in  villages,  all  of  whom  were 
kind  and  hospitable.  They  met  some  people  of  the 
Sioux,  a  great  nation  of  the  West,  and  of  the  Crees,  a 
roaming  nation  of  the  North,  whose  summer  wanderings 
extended  to  the  shores  of  the  great  salt  water  "  Sea  of 
the  North  "  (Hudson's  Bay).  They  visited  the  great  sea 
(Mississippi),  fourteen  years  before  Jolliet  and  Mar- 
quette, and  described  it  to  one  of  the  Jesuit  fathers  as  a 
beautiful  river,  great,  wide,  and  deep,  comparable  to  the 
great  river  St.  Lawrence.  Especially  were  they  pleased 
with  Michigan,  "  the  delightfullest  lake  of  the  world," 
"  uncomparable,"  "  finer  than  Italy,  as  to  climate,  and 
more  delightful  the  farther  south  one  goes."  The  phil- 
anthropy which  "  consoled  the  desolate  "  at  the  north  of 
the  lake  breaks  out  in  a  more  legitimate  form  in  Radis- 
son's lament  that  the  starving  poor  of  Europe  cannot  be 
brought  out  to  a  land  so  fertile,  and  abounding  in  game. 
The  poor  of  Europe  came  two  hundred  years  later,  for 
the  crowded  streets  of  Milwaukee  and  Chicago  are  now 
vociferous  in  every  European  tongue,  and,  though  the 
game  has  long  since  been  exterminated,  the  fields  of 
maize  are  more  productive  than  ever.  So  passed  the 
summer,  and,  as  the  fall  came  on,  the  two  adventurers 
retired  up  the  lake.  They  passed  through  the  Strait  of 
Michilimackinac,  and  we  read  with  startled  resentment 
the  name  "  Strait  of  the  Stinkings,"  applied  to  the  beauty- 
spot  of  the  northern  waters.  They  did  not  stay  at  the 
Sault,  but  passed  up  Lake  Superior  to  Chequamegon  Bay, 


320    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

that  part  of  the  south  shore  where  the  head-waters  of 
affluents  of  the  Mississippi  approach  the  lake.  There  they 
estabHshed  their  headquarters,  and  from  thence  they 
explored  over  a  large  portion  of  the  present  State  of 
Wisconsin.  They  were  the  first  white  men  known  to 
have  paddled  upon  Lake  Superior  beyond  the  Sault  or 
Strait  of  St.  Mary. 

Around  this  central  point  of  Indian  life  the  two  adven- 
turers moved  during  the  winter  of  1659-60.  Iroquois 
raids  had  driven  the  Saulteurs  (or  Sault  Indians)  there, 
and  there  also  were  remnants  of  the  Tobacco  nation  of 
the  Hurons,  and  many  Ottawas.  Thither  also  came  the 
Crees,  bringing  intelligence  of  their  summer  wanderings 
on  the  shores  of  the  northern  sea.  Radisson  went  on 
snowshoes  into  the  interior,  and  down  one  of  the  streams 
leading  into  the  Mississippi.  Here  his  narrative  reverts 
to  his  previous  visit  to  that  river.  He  identifies  it  by  call- 
\ng  it  the  "  great  river,"  where  the  Hurons  and  Ottawas 
had  taken  refuge — "  the  forked  river,"  of  which  one 
branch  went  south  to  Mexico,  and  the  other  (the  Mis- 
souri) to  the  west — the  first  notice  of  the  Missouri.  As 
the  summer  of  1660  approached  the  two  traders  prepared 
to  go  down  to  the  settlements,  and,  after  many  difficulties 
arising  from  the  terror  of  Iroquois  hostility  existing  even 
in  that  remote  region,  they  got  away  with  a  party  of  five 
hundred  savages,  and,  after  some  encounters  on  the 
Ottawa,  reached  Montreal  and  Three  Rivers,  in  the 
month  of  August,  1660. 

The  region  about  the  head-waters  of  the  Mississippi 
was  thus  revealed  in  this  adventurous  expedition.  The 
voyageurs  not  only  had  been  over  the  Wisconsin  portage, 
but  had  been  over  the  southern  water-parting  of  Lake 
Superior,  and  gone  down  streams  flowing  south-westward 
until  they  reached  the  great  river  (Mississippi)  itself. 
They  had  visited  the  extreme  south  of  Lake  Michigan, 
and  explored  beyond  its  western  water-parting.  They 
had  seen  much,  but  they  had  not  seen  the  "  Bay  of  the 
North  " ;  they  had  heard  of  it  from  the  Crees,  and  they 
resolved  to  rest  at  Three  Rivers  for  a  year,  and  say  as 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       321 

little  as  possible  about  their  travels  until  they  could  suc- 
ceed in  reaching  its  shores.  The  objective  point  of  their 
next  expedition  was  to  be  Hudson's  Bay,  passing  thither 
by  way  of  Lake  Superior.  It  is  perfectly  clear  from  the 
Relation  of  1660  that  the  Jesuits  at  that  time  knew  noth- 
ing of  the  lake  beyond  the  Sault,  nor  of  the  Bay,  beyond 
what  they  had  gathered  from  Indian  reports.  They  were 
confident  that  the  Southern  Ocean  joined  the  Bay  of  the 
North  by  means  of  a  connecting  water  at  the  west,  and 
that  thus  the  sea  leading  to  Japan  and  China  was  only  a 
few  days'  journey  from  Lake  Superior. 

In  the  summer  of  1661  Chouart  and  Radisson  prepared 
their  outfit  for  their  new  enterprise,  and  applied  to  the 
Governor  for  a  license  to  leave;  but,  although  he  had 
only  just  arrived,  the  Baron  d'Avaugour  had  already 
learned  to  consult  his  own  private  interest  in  public  mat- 
ters, and  he  refused  to  allow  them  to  leave  unless  they 
took  with  them  two  of  his  own  servants,  and  gave  them 
half  the  profits  of  the  venture.  Chouart  resented  the 
injustice  of  being  compelled  to  impart  to  green  hands 
the  experience  of  a  lifetime  of  danger,  and  to  divide  his 
profits  with  two  useless  men,  raw  from  France,  who  had 
never  seen  a  canoe  or  an  Indian ;  and  he,  together  with 
Radisson,  escaped  in  the  night  from  Three  Rivers,  and 
by  concerted  arrangement  met  on  the  river  a  party  of 
savages,  Saulteurs  and  Nipissings,  who  were  about  to 
return  to  their  homes. 

Once  more  the  two  brothers-in-law  were  in  the  midst 
of  the  wild  life  they  loved.  Above  Montreal,  on  the  Ot- 
tawa, the  Iroquois  lay  in  wait,  as  usual,  and,  in  a  number 
of  skirmishes  and  fights,  owing  to  the  skill  in  Indian  war- 
fare of  the  two  white  leaders,  the  Iroquois  got  the  worst 
of  it.  They  lost  ten  killed,  and  were  shut  up  in  a  fort. 
The  two  traders,  whose  object  was  trading,  not  fighting, 
seized  the  opportunity,  and  started  with  all  speed  up  the 
river,  taking  with  them  four  Iroquois  prisoners  to  burn 
as  soon  as  they  got  leisure.  They  did  not  slacken  their 
speed  until  they  reached  Lake  Nipissing,  then,  following 
down  the  French  River  and  along  the  north  shore  of 


322    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Lake  Huron,  they  arrived  at  the  Sault,  through  which 
Lake  Superior  discharges  its  waters. 

Game  was  plentiful  at  the  Sault,  and  whitefish,  then  as 
now,  were  abundant,  and  the  adventurers  rested  for  a  lit- 
tle while.  What  became  of  the  Iroquois  prisoners  does 
not  appear — probably  they  had  been  knocked  on  the  head 
to  lighten  the  canoes.  The  voyage  was  resumed  by  the 
way  of  the  south  shore  of  the  lake,  and  it  can  be  easily 
traced  in  Radisson's  narrative.  The  long  range  of  sand- 
dunes,  the  pictured  rocks,  the  copper  region,  Keweenaw 
Bay,  and  its  long  projecting  point,  are  fully  described. 
They  did  not  round  the  point,  but  crossed  it  near  the  base 
by  a  convenient  portage  always  followed  by  the  savages. 
At  the  Montreal  River,  now  the  boundary  between 
Northern  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  some  of  the  savages 
went  south  to  the  portages  for  the  Mississippi  waters. 
Chouart  and  Radisson  went  on  until  they  reached  the 
present  Chequamegon  Bay,  near  the  site  of  the  present 
Ashland.  There,  on  a  convenient  point,  they  built  a  trad- 
ing fort.  Three  or  four  years  later  the  Jesuits  established 
there  the  mission  of  St.  Esprit,  and  it  became  known  as 
La  Pointe.  It  is  near  the  portages  to  the  Chippewa  and 
the  St.  Croix  rivers,  which  fall  into  the  Mississippi,  near 
Lake  Pepin,  and  the  locality  was  the  favourite  resort  of 
many  tribes  of  savages  from  Lake  Michigan,  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  Hudson's  Bay. 

During  the  winter  of  1661-62  they  went  through  many 
experiences.  They  wandered  over  a  portion  of  what  is 
now  the  State  of  Minnesota.  They  made  a  long  visit  to 
a  lake,  the  resort  of  eighteen  tribes,  and  there  they  built 
a  trading  fort,  and  made  it  a  centre  of  operations.  There, 
also,  a  grand  council  was  held,  at  which  five  hundred 
savages  were  present.  The  two  traders  went,  by  invita- 
tion, to  visit  the  "  Nation  of  Beef"  {Nation  dii  Bccuf), 
where  they  found  seven  thousand  men,  and  they  stayed 
there  six  weeks,  then  they  returned  to  La  Pointe  on  Lake 
Superior. 

So  far  there  have  been  only  minor  difficulties  in  the 
narrative,  due  mainly  to  the  indescribably  bad  English 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED      323 

which  Radisson  wrote.  Some  of  the  sentences  might  as 
well  have  been  written  in  Cree ;  for,  although  the  words 
taken  separately  may  be  English,  taken  collectively,  they 
yield  no  intelligible  meaning,  but  now  comes  a  question 
which  is  supposed  to  have  a  political  bearing.  French 
writers  maintain  that  Chouart  and  Radisson  went  to 
Hudson's  Bay,  which  few  English  writers  will  admit. 
No  political  question  is  really  involved,  for  they  made  no 
settlement  there.  That  the  English  discovered  and  first 
wintered  on  the  bay  cannot  be  disputed — Hudson  in 
1610,  Button  in  1612,  James  in  1631,  had  wintered  there, 
and,  by  them,  and  Baffin,  and  Bylot,  the  whole  bay  had 
been  explored.  If,  however,  the  question  be  made  to 
turn  on  first  settlement,  the  priority  of  the  English  can 
easily  be  established  also.  When  it  is  considered  that 
Chouart  and  Radisson  deliberately  planned  this  voyage 
with  Hudson's  Bay  as  its  objective  point — that  they 
openly  stated  that  intention  only  a  few  weeks  before  their 
departure — that  they  subsequently  led  the  English  there, 
and  were  the  first  to  suggest  the  formation  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  a  presumption  is  created  which  in 
all  fairness  should  guide  the  interpretation  of  Radisson's 
English. 

Among  the  Indians  resorting  to  La  Pointe  and  the 
portages  they  had  met  a  band  of  Crees,  and  had  arranged 
to  make  them  a  visit  the  following  year.  They  con- 
cealed their  intention  from  the  other  Indians,  and  got 
away,  in  the  spring  of  1662,  to  carry  out  their  design. 
They  crossed  the  western  end  of  the  lake,  and  found, 
after  some  trouble,  the  camp  of  their  Cree  friends. 
They  started  at  once  for  what  they  call  the  "great 
river,"  and  "  following  it  they  came  to  the  seaside," 
where  "  they  found  an  old  house  all  demolished  battered 
with  bullets."  Apropos  of  the  old  house  the  Crees 
began  to  tell  Indian  yarns  about  two  nations  who  had 
been  there,  and  of  the  "  peculiarities  of  European,"  but 
Radisson,  in  his  peculiar  English,  says :  "  We  know 
ourselves,  and  what  Europe  is,  therefore  in  vaine  they 
tell  us  as  for  that."     All  this  points  to  Hudson's  Bay  as 


324    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

the  place  they  had  reached.  Further  indications  lead  to 
the  same  conclusion.  "  We  passed  that  summer  quietly 
coasting  the  seaside,"  writes  Radisson,  "  and  as  the  cold 
began  we  prevented  the  ice.  We  have  the  commoditie 
of  the  river  to  carry  our  things  in  our  boats  to  the  best 
place,  where  we  are  most  bests."  This  means  that  they 
left  the  bay  before  the  ice  began  to  form,  and  chose  for 
their  return  the  most  convenient  river — which  would  be 
the  Moose  River.  Further  confirmation  will  be  found  in 
the  statement,  "  We  went  further  in  the  bay  to  see  ye 
place  that  they  weare  to  passe  that  summer.  That  river 
comes  from  the  lake,  and  empties  itselfe  in  ye  river  of 
Sagnes,  called  Tadousack,  which  is  a  hundred  leagues 
in  the  great  river  of  Canada  as  where  we  are  in  ye  Bay 
of  ye  North."  This  passage  determines  the  place  they 
reached,  and  must,  fairly,  mean  that,  having  reached  the 
shore  of  the  bay,  they  coasted  to  the  outlet  of  a  river 
which  led  to  the  Saguenay,  that  might  be  Rupert  River, 
flowing  from  Lake  Mistassini.  From  that  lake  there 
is  a  portage  over  the  height  of  land  to  the  head-waters  of 
the  Saguenay.  Radisson  adds :  "  We  left  in  this  place 
our  marks  and  rendezvous,"  and  to  that  place  Chouart 
conducted  Gillam  in  1667.  Somewhere  near  there  Hud- 
son wintered  in  161  o,  and  James  in  1631.  The  old  ruined 
house  with  bullet  marks  may  thus  be  accounted  for,  and 
there  was  the  first  settlement  on  the  bay.  This  view  is 
incidentally  confirmed  by  a  passage  in  the  Jesuit  Relation 
of  1667,  where  it  is  recorded  that  a  Cree  Indian  told 
Allouez  that  he  had  seen  a  ship  on  the  bay  and  on  its 
shore  had  seen  a  house  made  of  boards  and  wood  (sawn 
lumber)  such  as  Allouez  and  the  French  used. 

Doubtless  there  are  difficulties  in  the  narrative,  for  in 
another  passage  Radisson  says :  "  We  went  f rOm  isle  to 
isle  all  that  summer,"  and  "  this  place  hath  a  great  store 
of  cows,"  meaning  buffalo.  These  are  notes  pointing  to 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  or  to  Lake  Nipigon,  but  in  close 
succession  he  writes :  "  We  promised  them  [the  Crees] 
to  come  with  such  shipps  as  we  invented."  That  cannot 
apply  to  any  inland  lake,  for  only  at  Hudson's  Bay  could 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       325 

they  reach  the  Crees  by  ships.  For  these  special  reasons, 
and  from  the  whole  sequence  of  events  the  conclusion 
that  Chouart  and  Radisson  reached  Hudson's  Bay  is  irre- 
sistible, and  when  it  is  considered  that  Summit  Lake  dis- 
charges both  ways,  by  the  Albany  River  into  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  by  the  Ombabike  River  into  Lake  Nipigon, 
which  discharges  into  Lake  Superior,  it  is  apparent  how 
easily  the  passage  could  be  made. 

There  is  no  need  to  dwell  upon  the  succeeding  ad- 
ventures of  the  two  traders  in  this  expedition.  They 
returned  to  their  fort  on  Chequamegon  Bay  on  Lake 
Superior,  and  in  the  spring  of  1663  prepared  to  descend 
to  Three  Rivers.  They  had  great  difficulty  in  persuad- 
ing the  savages  to  go  down.  The  fear  of  the  Iroquois 
was  upon  all  the  tribes.  They  succeeded  at  last,  and  in 
company  with  several  hundred  savages  arrived  at  Three 
Rivers  in  the  summer  of  1663.  There  they  fell  into 
D'Avaugour's  clutches,  and  from  his  injustice  they  ap- 
pealed in  vain  to  the  courts  of  France.  Their  resentment 
led  to  the  offer  of  their  services  to  England,  and  brought 
on  the  formation  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The 
remaining  years  of  these  remarkable  men  were  full  of 
adventures,  but  the  story  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this  vol- 
ume. Radisson's  narrative,  in  spite  of  its  occasional 
obscurity,  is  generally  clear  enough.  There  are  some 
transpositions,  which  show  that  it  was  in  part,  at  least, 
written  from  memory,  a  few  years  after  the  events.  In 
the  vicissitudes  of  such  a  life  as  his  it  is  not  surprising  if 
papers  should  have  been  lost,  but  the  main  facts  of  the 
discoveries  are  confirmed  by  other  contemporary  author- 
ities, which  give  the  reader  confidence  in  the  general  truth 
of  the  narrative. 

The  Jesuit  fathers  could  not  forget  their  scattered 
flock  in  the  distant  west.  We  have  seen  how  their 
attempt  to  pass  up  in  1656  had  failed;  but  in  1660,  when 
Chouart  and  Radisson  returned.  Father  Rene  Menard, 
though  fifty-five  years  old,  and  broken  by  hardships, 
resolved  to  go  up  with  the  returning  Ottawas  to  the 
upper  lakes.     He  left  at  the  end  of  August  in  company 


326    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

with  a  few  French  traders.  The  Ottawas,  who  seemed  to 
have  been  the  most  intractable  ruffians  of  all  the  western 
savages,  ill-treated  him  on  the  route ;  nevertheless  he  re- 
mained with  them  during  the  winter  at  a  place  on  Lake 
Superior,  he  called  Ste.  Therese,  supposed  to  have  been  on 
Keweenaw  Bay.  After  eight  months  of  hardship  and 
semi-starvation,  finding  that  the  Ottawas  were  abso- 
lutely irreclaimable,  he  resolved  to  go  to  La  Pointe  (St. 
Michel,  he  called  it),  where  some  Hurons  had  taken 
refuge,  and  had  sent  to  invite  him.  He  started  with 
one  Frenchman  and  a  party  of  Huron  guides.  The  jour- 
ney was  long,  and  the  Hurons  abandoned  him  under  the 
pretense  of  going  to  their  village  for  food.  The  French- 
man, Jean  Guerin,  remained  with  him  and  they  waited  two 
weeks  for  the  promised  return  of  the  Hurons  until,  their 
food  running  short,  they  repaired  a  canoe  which  they 
found  hidden  in  the  brush,  and  followed  on.  At  one  of 
the  portages  Guerin  went  ahead  with  a  load,  expecting  the 
father  to  follow,  but  Menard  wandered  into  the  forest 
and  was  lost.  His  companion  searched  for  him  in  vain. 
Guerin  succeeded  in  arriving  at  the  Huron  village,  and 
a  young  Indian  was  sent  in  search,  but  without  suc- 
cess. 

The  priest's  body  was  never  found.  Some  articles  be- 
longing to  him  were  found  among  the  Sacs,  and,  years 
after,  his  cassock  and  breviary  were  found  among  the 
Sioux,  as  objects  of  worship.  Some  suppose  that  the 
Keweenaw  portage  was  the  place  of  his  death,  but,  in 
going  over  the  particulars  recorded  in  the  Jesuit  Rela- 
tion of  1663,  and  in  the  memoir  of  Nicholas  Perrot,  it 
seems  evident  that  when  he  arrived  at  La  Pointe  the 
Hurons  had  retired  up  one  of  the  rivers  into  the  interior. 
Perrot  says  they  were  on  the  Black  River,  and  the  father 
was  following  their  traces. 

It  was  late  in  1663  when  the  news  of  Father  Menard's 
death  reached  Quebec,  and,  in  1665,  Father  Allouez 
went  up  to  Ottawa  to  continue  his  work.  The  Indians 
had  flatly  refused  to  take  him,  although  they  willingly 
took  some  white  traders ;  but  he  persisted  in  going.     His 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       327 

canoe  was  wrecked  and  the  Indians  left  him  to  starve, 
but  an  Ottawa  chief,  passing  not  long  after,  took  him  into 
his  canoe  and  made  him  work  his  way  by  paddling.  He 
did  not  stop  at  the  Sault,  but  pressed  on  to  Keweenaw  Bay 
(Ste.  Therese).  After  staying  there  a  short  time  he 
decided  that  La  Pointe  was  the  most  important  Indian 
rendezvous  on  the  lake,  and,  going  by  the  portage  through 
K!eweenaw  Point,  he  went  there  and  founded  the  mission 
he  called  Saint  Esprit  upon  a  point  of  the  mainland  on 
Chequamegon  Bay.  A  hundred  and  thirty  years  later, 
in  1765,  Henry,  the  fur  trader,  established  a  post  there 
among  the  Ojibways,  and  said  it  might  be  called  the 
metropolis  of  that  tribe.  The  lake  afifords  abundance  of 
food.  In  a  short  time  his  men  took  two  thousand  trout 
and  whitefish.  In  winter  they  caught  them  by  spearing, 
and  the  trout  weighed  on  an  average  twenty  pounds 
each. 

It  was  a  well-chosen  spot.  Allouez  was  a  skilled  linguist 
and  could  preach  in  six  languages — a  most  important 
qualification  at  that  polyglot  post.  There  were  two  vil- 
lages there — one  of  the  refugee  Hurons  of  the  Tobacco 
tribe  and  the  other  of  Algonquins.  He  built  his  chapel 
between  the  two,  and  began  his  labours  among  the  shift- 
ing throng  of  Sacs,  Foxes,  Illinois,  Crees,  Sioux,  Potta- 
watomies,  Ojibways,  and  Saulteurs.  The  Nipissings  had 
retired  to  Lake  Nipigon  (Alimebegong),  in  the  country 
of  the  Crees,  and  Allouez  visited  them — the  first  mis- 
sionary to  touch  the  north  shore  of  the  lake.  All  these 
nations  resorted  peaceably  to  La  Pointe.  The  country 
properly  belonged  to  the  Ojibways,  but  they,  like  the 
Sioux  and  Crees,  though  addicted  to  war,  had  not  the 
truculence  and  cruelty  of  the  eastern  tribes.  They  did 
not  even  torture  their  prisoners.  In  fact,  burning  at  the 
stake  was  a  custom  practised  only  by  the  semi-civilised 
Indians  of  eastern  America,  and  the  fully  civilised  nations 
of  western  Europe.  The  western  tribes,  after  the  Iro- 
quois wars,  adopted  it  to  a  limited  extent  in  retaliation; 
but,  though  careless  of  life,  they  did  not  delight  in  cruelty 
for  its  own  sake. 


328    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

In  such  a  centre  of  Indian  life  Allouez  soon  learned  of 
the  Mississippi  from  the  Sioux  and  Illinois,  and  also  of 
the  populous  nations  on  its  banks.  The  field  opened  out 
before  him  and  he  went  down  to  Quebec  to  obtain  help. 
He  stayed  there  only  two  days,  and  returned  with  another 
Jesuit,'  Father  Nicholas,  a  lay  brother,  and  four  hired 
men.  His  active  labours  led  him  to  the  extreme  western 
end  of  the  lake  to  make  a  visit  to  the  Sioux.  He  crossed 
to  the  north  shore,  went  up  to  Lake  Nipigon  and  thor- 
oughly examined  it  around  all  its  shores  and  islands.  He 
was  following  the  Nipissings,  who  took  refuge  there 
after  the  Iroquois  war,  although  the  region  properly  be- 
longed to  the  Crees.  For  three  years  he  laboured  at  La 
Pointe  with  indifferent  success.  Those  of  the  Hurons 
who  had  learned  something  of  Christianity  in  their  old 
home  on  Lake  Huron  ■  had  relapsed  into  paganism.  In 
full  council  he  took  off  his  shoes  and  "  shook  off  the  dust 
of  his  feet  as  a  witness  against  them."  He  told  them 
that  the  people  of  the  Sault  had  sent  to  invite  him,  and 
he  would  leave  them  to  their  sins.  They  were  impressed, 
but  only  for  a  short  time.  Allouez  left  them  in  1669  to 
found  the  mission  of  St.  Frangois  Xavier  on  the  Fox 
River  of  Green  Bay.  There  he  spent  the  winter  among 
the  Pottawatomies,  Sacs,  Foxes,  Winnebagoes,  and  Mas- 
coutins,  and  in  the  spring  he  went  up  the  river  beyond 
the  portage  and  saw  the  Wisconsin  flowing  to  the  south- 
west, to  fall  into  "  the  great  river  called  the  Messi  Sipi, 
only  six  days'  journey  distant."  He  prepared  the  way 
for  Marquette  and  Jolliet  by  founding  the  first  mission 
on  Lake  Michigan. 

Meantime,  at  Quebec  and  Montreal,  great  changes 
were  taking  place.  The  King  had  sent  out  a  very  capa- 
ble soldier,  De  Courcelles,  as  governor,  and  as  intendant 
he  had  sent  Talon,  one  of  Colbert's  most  trusted  scholars. 
He  sent  also  the  Marquis  de  Tracy  as  lieutenant-general 
with  vice-regal  powers,  and,  most  important  of  all,  he 
sent  a  regiment  twelve  hundred  strong — the  Carignan- 
Salieres  regiment  of  veteran  soldiers,  seasoned  in  the 
Turkish  wars.     They  arrived  in  1665,  and,  without  losing 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       329 

time,  De  Courcelles,  in  January,  1666,  marched  an  ex- 
pedition, on  snowshoes,  to  attack  the  Mohawks  in  their 
homes.  In  the  summer  the  Marquis  de  Tracy  invaded 
the  Mohawk  territory  with  a  strong  force,  burned  all 
their  towns  and  destroyed  all  their  standing  crops  and 
stores  of  provisions.  The  troops  were  the  missionaries 
needed  by  the  Mohawks.  They  were  the  peacemakers, 
and,  for  twenty  years  after,  there  was  peace  along  the 
waterways  of  Canada,  and  the  communications  with  the 
missions  on  the  Great  Lakes  were  unmolested.  Cham- 
plain  was  justified.  If  France  had  sent  him  the  six  score 
men  he  asked  for,  before  the  power  of  her  Huron  and 
Algonquin  allies  had  been  broken,  the  Iroquois  would 
never  have  attained  such  pre-eminence,  hundreds  of 
Canadians  would  have  been  saved  from  the  scalping  knife 
and  the  stake,  and  the  French  would  have  been  en- 
trenched in  the  country  before  the  English  had  time  to 
gather  strength.  At  the  peace  commenced  the  era  of 
the  great  expansion,  and  men  like  Frontenac  and  Talon 
began  to  dream  of  a  great  transatlantic  France,  extend- 
ing from  Hudson's  Bay  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
crowding  the  English  back  upon  a  narrow  strip  of  the 
seacoast. 

The  way  was  now  open.  Allouez  once  more  went 
down  to  Quebec  with  earnest  representations,  and  Father 
Dablon  went  up  to  the  lakes,  taking  with  him  Father  Mar- 
quette. In  1669  the  Jesuits  had  three  fixed  stations  in 
the  West.  The  chief  one  was  the  mission  of  St.  Mary  at 
the  Sault,  the  others  were  St.  Esprit  at  La  Pointe  on  Lake 
Superior,  and  St.  Frangois  Xavier  on  Fox  River  of  Green 
Bay  in  Lake  Michigan.  Father  Dablon,  who  was  the 
Superior  of  western  missions,  visited  these  stations,  and 
in  1670,  he  and  Allouez  went  to  Green  Bay  and  up  the 
Fox  River  to  the  Mascoutins  and  doubtless  stood  upon 
the  portage  and  saw  the  smooth  current  of  the  Wisconsin 
inviting  them  westwards.  He  saw  that  the  Sault  was  the 
key  of  the  West,  and  founded  the  residence  on  the  south 
shore  of  the  Strait  just  below  the  rapids.  He  and  Mar- 
quette were  there  in  1669.     Not  long  after  he  was  re- 


330    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

called  to  Quebec,  Allouez  went  to  the  Sault,  Marquette 
to  La  Pointe,  and  Fathers  Druillettes  and  Andre  were 
sent  to  Green  Bay.  The  results  of  these  explorations  are 
shown  upon  a  map  in  the  Jesuit  Relation  of  1670-71. 

It  is  doubtful  if  there  ever  have  been  so  many  excep- 
tionally able  men  in  power  at  one  time  in  Canada  as  at 
this  period.  The  Governor,  De  Courcelles,  soon  to  be 
followed  by  Frontenac,  the  Intendant  Talon,  and  Bishop 
Laval,  were  at  the  head  of  affairs.  The  Abbe  de  Queylus 
was  Superior  of  the  Sulpicians,  the  hot-headed  Abbe 
Fenelon,  and  the  ex-captain  of  cavalry,  the  Abbe  Dollier 
de  Casson,  were  missionaries.  Jolliet,  the  versatile  and 
good-natured  Canadian,  and  La  Salle,  the  intractable  and 
reserved  Norman,  were  on  the  eve  of  the  discoveries 
which  have  written  their  names  in  history.  The  saintly 
Marquette,  who  is  almost  canonised  throughout  the 
Western  States  of  the  Union,  had  just  gone  to  the  Sault, 
and  some  of  the  most  able  of  the  Jesuit  fathers,  Druil- 
lettes, Dablon,  and  Allouez,  were  still  active  in  their  work. 
These  men  were  to  lift  the  veil  which  had  hidden  the 
West  when  the  soldier,  De  Tracy,  had  swept  the  way 
clear  of  the  hostile  Iroquois. 

In  1663  the  company  of  religious  enthusiasts  who  had 
founded  the  City  of  Montreal  in  1642  and  held  it  as  a 
"  Castle  Dangerous,"  in  spite  of  incessant  Mohawk  war 
parties,  transferred  to  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice  their 
property  and  rights  in  the  Island  of  Montreal,  and  five 
years  later  the  Abbe  de  Queylus  returned  to  Canada  as 
Superior.  He  was  not  content  to  leave  to  the  Jesuits  a 
monopoly  of  mission  work.  The  peace  had  opened  up 
the  lower  lakes.  The  Ottawa  route  and  the  upper  lakes 
had  been  made  known  by  the  Recollets  and  the  Jesuits, 
and  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Ontario  was  occupied  by 
Jesuit  missions.  The  Sulpicians  now  inaugurated  mis- 
sion stations  along  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Ontario, 
where  Iroquois  bands  were  establishing  themselves. 
Their  first  post  was  on  the  Bay  of  Quinte  (Kente).  A 
band  of  Cayugas  had  settled  there  and  the  Abbes  Trouve 
and  Fenelon  were  sent  to  evangelise  them.     Shortly  after 


'    EXPLORATION  RESUMED       331 

the  Abbe  Fenelon  (a  brother  of  the  celebrated  Arch- 
bishop) went  to  Gandaseteiagon,  near  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Toronto.  It  is  laid  down  on  a  contempo- 
raneous map  at  the  lake  terminus  of  the  route  to  Lake 
Toronto,  the  present  Lake  Simcoe,  and  near  a  river  which 
cannot  be  other  than  the  Humber.  Another  mission  was 
at  Ganeraska,  probably  Bowmanville. 

The  zealous  Superior  heard  the  rumours  of  populous 
tribes  in  the  far  West,  more  tractable  than  the  Iroquois, 
who  were  calling  for  news  of  the  Gospel,  and,  in  1669, 
he  despatched  two  Sulpicians,  Dollier  de  Casson  and 
Galinee,  to  discover  some  of  them,  and  more  particularly 
one  in  the  southwest,  of  which  he  had  heard  from  a  cap- 
tive given  him  by  the  Iroquois.  They  started  from  Mon- 
treal on  July  6  with  seven  canoes  and  twenty-one  men. 
With  them  was  La  Salle,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  later, 
and  they  had  as  guides  two  canoes  of  Seneca  Indians. 
The  Abbe  Dollier  de  Casson  had  served  under  Turenne 
and  was  a  priest  of  the  most  imperturbable  good  nature ; 
his  companion,  Galinee,  was  in  minor  orders  and  had 
some  skill  in  practical  mathematics  and  cartography.  His 
accounts  of  the  voyage  and  map  have  been  preserved  and 
are  of  great  geographical  value  because  up  to  that  time 
Lake  Erie  was  almost  unknown. 

The  route  taken  was  up  the  St.  Lawrence  and  across 
Lake  Ontario  to  Irondequoit  Bay  (Karontogouat)  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Genessee  River.  The  Seneca  towns 
were  not  far  from  there  and  the  largest  of  them,  which 
Galinee  calls  Seneca,  was  the  first  point  on  their  voyage, 
for  there  they  expected  to  obtain  guides,  and  there  the 
Jesuit  Father  Fremin  had  a  mission.  The  town  was  six 
leagues  from  the  lake  shore  where  the  Frenchmen  en- 
camped and  there  was  much  parleying,  for  the  Indians 
were  never  in  a  hurry  and  the  business  had  to  be  consid- 
ered in  council.  They  were  unwilling  that  the  expedition 
should  go  further,  and  it  was  delayed  several  weeks,  wait- 
ing for  a  decision.  At  last,  hearing  from  an  Indian  that 
there  was  an  Iroquois  town  at  the  end  of  the  lake,  where 
they  would  be  certain  to  find  slaves  of  the  western  nations 


332    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN*- 

who  could  act  as  guides,  the  Frenchmen  went  on.  They 
passed  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River  and  although 
they  heard  the  roar  of  the  cataract,  they  were  content  to 
accept  the  Indian  accounts  of  it.  It  is  almost  incredible 
at  this  date,  but  Galinee  says  distinctly  that  they  were  in 
such  haste  to  arrive  at  the  Iroquois  town  they  did  not  go 
to  see  "  this  wonder,"  and  from  the  narrative  it  is  clear 
that  no  Frenchman  up  to  that  time  had  described  it  or 
recorded  a  visit  there.  Even  the  Sulpician  Trouve,  who 
told  Galinee  that  he  had  heard  the  sound  of  the  fall  across 
the  lake,  does  not  seem  to  have  visited  it. 

They  arrived  at  a  large  sandy  bay  at  the  end  of  the 
lake  at  the  outlet  of  a  little  lake,  evidently  near  the  pres- 
ent city  of  Hamilton.  The  village  they  were  in  search 
of  was  five  or  six  leagues  distant  and  the  inhabitants  be- 
ing few  were  in  fear  of  the  French  and  begged  that  they 
might  not  be  burned  as  were  the  Mohawks.  Here  the 
voyagers  were  more  successful.  The  Indians  gave  them 
two  slaves.  One,  a  Shawnee  from  the  Ohio,  fell  to  La 
Salle,  and  the  other,  a  Nez-Perce,  from  the  upper  Lake 
Huron,  fell  to  the  party  of  Galinee.  At  the  Indian  vil- 
lage they  were  amazed  to  find  two  Frenchmen  on  their 
way  down  from  the  upper  lakes.  It  was  a  memorable 
meeting.  Jolliet  had  been  sent  to  Lake  Superior  with 
Jean  Pere  of  Quebec  to  look  for  the  copper  mine,  of 
which  so  much  had  been  heard  ever  since  Cartier's  time, 
and  was  returning.  In  this  little  Indian  village  the  two 
who  were  to  be  rival  discoverers  of  the  Mississippi  met, 
and,  with  characteristic  openness,  Jolliet  gave  the  others 
the  results  of  his  explorations  and  sketches  of  the  routes 
he  had  been  following.  He  had  gone  up  by  way  of  the 
Ottawa  and  on  his  return  had  persuaded  the  Ottawas  to 
let  him  take  back  with  him  one  of  their  Iroquois  prison- 
ers as  a  preliminary  to  a  peace.  This  Iroquois  had 
shown  him  the  easier  route  down  by  Lake  Huron  and  the 
Detroit  River,  but  was  afraid  of  the  Niagara  portage, 
because  it  was  infested  by  war  parties  of  the  Andastes. 
Jolliet,  therefore,  went  down  Lake  Erie  only  as  far  as  the 
mouth  of  the  Grand  River.     He  did  not  see  Niagara,  but 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       333 

leaving  his  canoe  on  Lake  Erie  made  a  portage  over  to 
the  head  of  Lake  Ontario.  He  was  the  first  to  make  a 
passage  by  way  of  Detroit,  but  while  the  upper  lakes  were 
all  discovered,  Niagara,  the  most  remarkable  point  on  the 
whole  St.  Lawrence  system  and  the  earliest  to  be  talked 
about,  was  the  last  to  be  seen  and  described. 

The  rift  in  this  ill-assorted  expedition  now  began  to 
appear.  The  enthusiastic  priest,  Dollier  de  Casson,  heard 
from  Jolliet  of  a  populous  tribe  in  the  West,  the  Potta- 
watomies,  who  had  asked  for  missionaries,  and  to  them 
he  decided  to  go — the  readier  because  they  were  of  Al- 
gonquin stock,  and  he  could  speak  with  them.  It  was 
true  that  the  expedition  had  been  designed  to  discover  an 
unknown  river,  the  Ohio,  but  he  would  go  there  by  way 
of  Lake  Erie  and  this  well-disposed  tribe  of  savages. 
La  Salle  had  other  views.  With  characteristic  reticence 
he  dissembled  them,  and  with  an  obstinacy  equally  char- 
acteristic clung  to  them.  He  was  convinced  that  the 
way  to  the  Ohio  lay  through  the  Seneca  country ;  and  in 
fact,  it  was  through  the  Senecas  he  had  first  heard  of  it. 
He  had  been  constrained  by  the  authority  of  the  Governor 
to  take  part  in  this  expedition  and  it  was  repugnant  to  his 
nature  to  share  responsibility  with  anyone.  At  the  Iro- 
quois village  he  pleaded  illness  and  would  not,  or  could 
not,  proceed.  Jolliet  went  on  his  way  eastward  down  to 
Quebec,  and  the  two  priests  went  westward  to  Lake  Erie 
with  their  party,  over  Jolliet's  trail.  Where  La  Salle 
went  is  a  fruitful  source  of  dispute. 
,  It  was  October  i,  1669,  when  they  started,  and  half 
the  village  turned  out  to  carry  the  baggage  and  canoes  of 
the  Sulpicians  over  to  the  Grand  River ;  but  they  had  only 
three  canoes  for  twelve  people,  and  the  water  in  the  river 
was  low  and  very  rapid,  so  their  interpreter  and  two  In- 
dians volunteered  to  walk  over  the  trail  and  search  for 
the  canoe  Jolliet  had  left  on  the  lake.  The  men  were 
never  seen  again,  and  it  is  probable  they  deserted.  When 
the  two  priests  arrived  on  the  lake  the  waves,  under  a 
gale  from  the  south,  were  rolling  in  as  on  an  ocean  beach. 
The  season  was  getting  late  and  they  resolved  to  winter 


334    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

on  the  lake,  so  they  ran  up  along  shore  inside  of  Long 
Point  Bay  to  a  place  now  known  as  Port  Dover,  in  the 
county  of  Norfolk.  They  went  a  little  way  up  the  Lynn 
River  to  the  junction  of  Black  Creek  and  there  settled 
down  in  what  Galinee  calls  the  "  Earthly  Paradise  "  of 
Canada.  He  writes:  "There  is  assuredly  no  more 
beautiful  region  in  all  Canada.  The  woods  are  open, 
interspersed  with  beautiful  meadows,  watered  by  rivers 
and  rivulets  filled  with  fish  and  beaver,  an  abundance  of 
fruits,  and  what  is  more  important,  so  full  of  game  that 
we  saw  there  at  one  time  more  than  a  hundred  roebucks 
in  a  single  band."  There,  on  the  bank  of  the  stream,  in  a 
nook  among  the  trees,  sheltered  from  the  stormy  lake, 
they  built  their  cabin  with  a  small  chapel  attached,  where 
they  said  mass  three  times  a  week.  It  was  an  ideal  life 
for  an  ecclesiastic.  Galinee  writes :  "  Monsieur  Dollier 
often  told  us  that  that  winter  ought  to  be  worth  more  for 
our  eternal  welfare  than  the  best  ten  years  of  our  lives." 
They  were  undisturbed  all  winter  and  unvisited  save  by 
an  occasional  Iroquois  hunter  in  search  of  beaver. 

In  the  spring  of  1670  they  started  again,  and  after 
nearly  six  months  of  peace  and  plenty,  their  troubles 
commenced.  One  of  their  canoes  was  blown  into  the 
lake  and  some  of  the  party  had  to  walk  along  the  trail, 
where  they  got  entangled  in  the  marshes.  At  last  they 
all  safely  reached  the  portage  at  Long  Point  neck,  and 
finding  again  Jolliet's  canoe,  which  some  Iroquois  had 
been  using,  they  launched  upon  the  main  lake  westwards, 
camping  at  night  upon  the  shore.  When  they  arrived  at 
Point  Pelee  they  were  very  tired  and  left  their  packs  upon 
the  beach.  They  slept  very  soundly  and  during  the  night 
the  wind  rose  and  the  rising  water  carried  away  some  of 
Dollier's  baggage,  and  would  have  stripped  them  clean  if 
one  of  the  party  had  not  chanced  to  waken.  Fortunately 
the  canoes  themselves  had  been  carried  up  to  higher  land 
and  were  safe.  Dollier's  altar  service  was  lost,  and  also 
the  goods  they  had  for  use  in  payment  for  provisions. 
This  accident  destroyed  in  their  view  the  object  of  their 
journey,  for  it  put  it  out  of  their  power  to  administer  the 


c    o 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       335 

sacraments.  After  much  deliberation  they  decided  to 
give  up  the  Pottawatomies  and  to  return  to  Montreal  with 
the  Indians,  who  would  be  going  down  in  the  summer 
from  the  Sault  St.  Mary.  This  detour  seemed  to  them 
very  little  longer  and  would  enable  them  to  see  the  coun- 
try. They  resumed  their  westward  course,  passed  up  the 
Detroit  River,  through  Lake  St.  Clair  and  the  St.  Clair 
River,  and  into  Lake  Huron.  At  a  sharp  turn  in  the 
river  they  encountered  a  stone  idol  painted  with  red  paint, 
the  object  of  the  veneration  of  passing  savages.  In  some 
occult  way  they  associated  it  with  the  loss  of  their  altar 
service.  It  was,  in  their  notion,  a  demon  who  objected 
to  the  opening  of  missions.  "  In  short,"  says  Galinee, 
"  there  was  no  one  whose  hatred  it  had  not  incurred."  So 
they  smashed  it  and  sank  the  pieces  in  the  deep  river,  and, 
adds  the  pious  father,  "  God  rewarded  us  immediately  for 
this  good  action,  for  we  killed  a  roebuck  and  a  bear  that 
very  day."  They  were  surprised  to  find  that  the  water  in 
Lake  St.  Clair  was  fresh,  for  Sanson  on  his  map  of  1656 
had  marked  it  "  Lake  of  Sea- Water." 

It  must  be  noted  that  Galinee,  both  in  his  narrative  and 
in  his  map,  confused  together  Lake  Michigan  and  Lake 
Huron.  Lie  writes  that  the  fresh-water  sea  of  the  Hurons 
is  called  in  Algonquin  "  Michigane,"  and  his  Lake  of  the 
Hurons  is  evidently  the  North  Channel  of  that  lake. 
They  found  no  mission  post  at  the  Strait  of  Michilimack- 
inac.  At  last  they  arrived  at  the  Sault,  where  they  found 
Fathers  Dablon  and  Marquette  comfortably  settled  in  a 
fortified  mission  with  a  house  and  chapel  and  large  clear- 
ings around  for  crops.  They  were  received  "  with  all 
charity."  but  their  welcome  is  open  to  doubt,  for  their 
stay  was  very  short.  Galinee  comments  with  freedom 
upon  what  he  saw,  and  as  he  and  Dollier  were  ecclesias- 
tics, his  remarks  are  of  the  nature  of  expert  evidence. 
Lie  says :  "  I  saw  no  particular  sign  of  Christianity 
amongst  the  Indians  of  this  place,  nor  in  any  other  coun- 
try of  the  Ottawas,"  and  he  thinks  that  the  fruit  of  the 
missions  is  rather  for  the  French,  "  of  whom  there  are 
twenty  or  twenty-five  there,  than  for  the  Indians,  of  whom 


336    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASlN 

there  are  so  far  none  sufficiently  good  Catholics  to  attend 
divine  service  at  high  mass  or  vespers."  Too  much 
importance  must  not  be  attributed  to  these  comments,  for 
there  were  serious  dififerences  at  Quebec  in  those  days 
between  the  Sulpicians  and  the  Jesuits ;  nor  should  too 
much  be  expected  from  these  poor  savages ;  at  the  same 
time  it  is  evident  that  while  the  published  relations  of 
the  Jesuit  missionaries  had  been  too  optimistic  as  regards 
the  spiritual  progress  of  the  Indians,  they  had  erred  in  the 
opposite  direction  in  reporting  the  scarcity  of  food  in  the 
country.  The  abundance  of  fish  at  La  Pointe  has  been 
noted,  the  whitefish  at  Michilimackinac  were  in  astonish- 
ing numbers,  and  even  to  the  present  day  the  Great  Lakes 
abound  with  fish.  The  countless  streams  are  full  of  trout 
and  the  woods  of  game.  The  two  Sulpicians  had  gone 
into  this  wilderness  of  anticipated  hardships  and  had  lived 
in  a  sportsman's  paradise  for  six  months,  evidently  much 
to  their  surprise,  and  they  found  the  Jesuit  mission  very 
comfortably  supplied.  The  Relations  were  by  no  means 
adapted  to  encourage  immigration  and  that  may  help  to 
account  for  their  suppression  a  few  years  later.  The  two 
travellers  left  the  Sault  with  hired  guides  on  May  28 
and  arrived  at  Montreal  on  June  18,  1670,  by  way  of  the 
Ottawa  River.  The  expedition  did  much  to  stimulate 
exploration.  These  two  priests,  not  long  out  from 
France,  had  not  only  wintered  in  comfort  and  abun- 
dance, but  had  reached  the  extreme  point  of  Jesuit  mis- 
sions and  returned  in  safety. 

Father  Marquette,  the  sweet-souled  hero  of  western 
discovery,  had  gone  up  to  the  Ottawa  country  in  1668 
and  in  1670  was  at  the  Sault.  From  thence  he  went  to 
the  mission  of  St.  Esprit  at  La  Pointe.  There  the  Illinois 
and  other  western  and  southern  tribes  fired  his  religious 
zeal  by  stories  of  the  great  water  (Mississippi)  and  its 
teeming  nations.  The  fugitive  Hurons  and  Ottawas,  who 
had  settled  at  La  Pointe  and  on  the  streams  to  the  south, 
had  been  hospitably  received  by  the  Sioux ;  but,  after  a 
few  years,  growing  arrogant  with  the  possession  of  guns 
and  iion  weapons,  they  sought  to  drive  their  generous 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED       337 

hosts  away  and  obtain  exclusive  possession  of  the  coun- 
try. The  indignant  Sioux  declared  war,  and  with  Indian 
ceremony  before  commencing  hostilities,  they  sent  back 
to  Father  Marquette  all  the  religious  pictures  he  had 
given  them.  The  anger  of  that  redoubtable  nation— the 
Iroquois  of  the  West — was  too  serious  to  face,  and  the 
Hurons  and  Ottawas,  who  never  knew  how  to  be  quiet, 
had  again  to  fly.  Some  beginning  of  a  mission  seems  to 
have  been  made  in  1670,  probably  by  Father  Allouez, 
upon  the  Island  of  Michilimackinac,  and  thither  in  1671 
went  Marquette  with  the  retreating  Hurons.  Father  An- 
dre with  the  Ottawas  went  to  the  Manitoulin  Islands. 

Michilimackinac  is  the  name  of  a  region,  as  well  as  of 
an  island,  and  much  confusion  has  arisen  in  consequence. 
It  is  applied  properly  to  the  holy  island  of  Algonquin 
mythology  in  the  middle  of  the  strait  leading  out  of  Lake 
Michigan,  and  also  to  the  northern  and  southern  points  of 
land  which  form  the  strait.  Of  late  the  northern  point 
has  been  called  Ancient  Michilimackinac  and  the  southern 
point  Old  Mackinac.  It  is  a  convenient  distinction.  In 
1 67 1  Father  Marquette  moved  from  the  island  to  the 
north  point  of  the  strait  and  founded  there  the  mission  of 
St.  Ignace.  It  was  a  more  convenient  location  because 
a  trail  led  directly  across  the  peninsula  to  the  mission  at 
the  Sault.  At  St.  Ignace  he  erected  a  chapel  and  a  mis- 
sion post,  and  soon  two  villages  gathered  on  either  side, 
one  of  Hurons  and  the  other  of  Algonquins.  It  speedily 
became  the  most  important  rendezvous  of  the  fur  trade  in 
the  Northwest  and  was  besides  the  head  of  four  missions. 
La  Motte  Cadillac  was  sent  there  by  Frontenac  as  gover- 
nor in  1694,  but  in  1701  he  founded  Detroit  and,  as  he 
drew  thither  most  of  the  Indians,  Michilimackinac  lost 
much  of  its  importance.  The  French  Government,  in  one 
of  its  fits  of  contraction,  withdrew  the  garrison  and  no 
one  was  left  there  but  a  pack  of  wood-rangers  {coureurs 
de  hois)  and  traders  who,  being  under  no  control,  made  a 
pandemonium  of  the  place.  There  was  not  a  Christian 
Indian  left  and  the  Frenchmen  were  a  disgrace  to  the 
name.     The  scandalised  missionaries,  in  1705,  set  fire  to 


338    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

their  church  and  residence  and  retired  in  disgust  to 
Quebec,  and  the  post  of  Ancient  Michilimackinac  on  the 
north  side — St.  Ignace  of  Marquette — was  abandoned. 
This  aroused  the  governor,  Vaudreuil,  and  he  persuaded 
Father  Marest  to  return  to  the  mission  the  following  year 
and  sent  an  officer,  De  Louvigny,  to  restore  order.  In 
1712  the  cold  fit  of  the  French  court  having  passed  off, 
orders  were  given  to  restore  the  post,  and  De  Louvigny 
was  sent  up  with  a  garrison.  Then  the  fort  was  built  on 
the  south  point,  now  known  as  Old  Mackinac,  or  simply 
Mackinac,  and  that  was  the  post  given  over  to  the  English 
at  the  cession.  If  then  La  Hontan  or  Hennepin,  or  any 
other  writer  previous  to  1712  be  referred  to,  Michili- 
mackinac means  the  point  on  the  north  still  known  as  St. 
Igfnace  or  Ancient  Michilimackinac.  If  the  reference  be 
to  Charlevoix'  works,  Henry  s  Travels,  Pontiac  s  War, 
or  any  other  matter  later,  the  south  point  of  the  strait  or 
Old  Mackinac  will  be  meant.  That  fort,  was,  however, 
also  abandoned,  and  in  1780  the  English  built  a  fort  upon 
the  island.  The  last  was  the  Fort  Michilimackinac  taken 
by  the  Canadians  in  1812  and  held  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  and  it  is  now  the  only  place  known  by  the  name. 
Thus  the  fact  that  the  maps  in  Charlevoix'  Travels  and 
later  works,  place  the  fort  and  mission  on  the  south  point 
is  reconciled  with  the  earlier  maps  of  Hennepin  and  La 
Hontan.  Again  it  is  clear  that  the  fort  and  the  mission 
on  the  south  point  were  not  identical,  although  there  was 
a  chapel  inside  the  palisades.  When  the  mission  moved 
to  the  south  shore,  it  was  fixed  about  twenty  miles  west- 
ward from  the  fort,  at  a  place  across  the  point  of  land 
called  L'Arbre  Croche.  On  Charlevoix'  map  they  are 
separately  shown,  and  Henry,  who  was  there  in  1761, 
makes  the  matter  very  plain.  The  mission  was  at  the 
Ottawa  village  of  L'Arbre  Croche  and  the  missionary's 
house  was  halfway  between  it  and  the  fort.  These 
changes  and  the  extended  application  of  the  name  have 
led  to  much  dispute. 

The  French  Government  had  now  adopted  a  definite 
policy  concerning  Canada  and,  in   1670,  the  Intendant 


EXPLORATION  RESUMED      339 

Talon  prepared  to  take,  on  behalf  of  the  French  crown, 
full  and  formal  possession  of  all  the  region  of  the  western 
lakes  together  with  the  avenues  opening  up  from  them 
leading,  as  was  confidently  thought,  in  some  way  to  the 
Great  South  Sea.  Acting  under  his  instructions,  Dau- 
mont  de  St.  Lusson  went  up  the  country  and,  while  he 
was  wintering  on  the  Manitoulin  Islands,  Nicholas  Per- 
rot,  who  had  been  engaged  as  interpreter,  was  sent  round 
the  Indian  country  to  summon  representatives  to  attend 
the  ceremony.  The  great  assembly  was  held  at  the  Sault 
Ste.  Marie,  upon  a  hill  overlooking  the  Indian  village,  and 
nothing  was  omitted  which  might  impress  the  minds  of 
the  savages.  The  principal  chiefs  of  the  Pottawatomies, 
Sacs,  Winnebagoes,  Menomonees,  Foxes,  Mascoutins, 
Kickapoos  and  Miamis  were  there  from  Lake  Michigan. 
The  Crees  and  Ojibways  from  the  north,  the  Nippissings, 
the  Beavers  and  many  other  tribes,  fourteen  in  all,  were 
represented.  The  Saulteurs  were  at  home  there,  and  the 
Hurons  and  Ottawas  gave  in  their  adhesion  later;  for 
they  were  engaged  at  that  time  in  escaping  from  the 
Sioux,  whom  their  insolence  had  provoked.  The  French 
were  represented  by  the  Jesuit  fathers  Dablon,  Allouez, 
Druillettes,  and  Andre.  Jolliet  was  present,  and  many 
others,  traders  and  interpreters.  A  cross  was  erected 
and  blessed,  with  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  church,  and 
the  Vexilla  Regis  prodcunt  was  chanted  by  all  the  French- 
men present — an  ancient  hymn  of  the  Roman  Church, 
familiar  in  English  hymbooks  as 

The  Royal  Banners  forward  go, 

The  Cross  shines  forth  with  mystic  glow. 

Then,  below  the  cross,  an  escutcheon  bearing  the  arms  of 
France  was  raised  upon  a  cedar  pole,  and  all  chanted 
Exaudiat — the  twentieth  Psalm  in  Latin,  the  equivalent 
of  the  English  "  God  Save  the  King."  The  Proces  Ver- 
bal was  then  read,  followed  by  shouts  of  Vive  la  Roi  and 
a  general  discharge  of  fire-arms.  Father  Allouez  then 
addressed  the  Indians  in  their  own  language  and,  with 
skilful  ease,  employed  their  own  rhetorical  style.     He 


340    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

told  them  of  the  powerful  King  of  France,  who  had  ten 
thousand  captains  as  great  as  the  Governor  of  Quebec, 
who  had  beaten  the  Iroquois,  and  of  the  enormous  num- 
ber of  his  troops  and  ships.  He  pictured  the  air  ablaze 
with  his  cannons,  and  the  King,  covered  with  the  blood 
of  his  enemies,  riding  in  the  middle  of  his  squadrons. 
He  told  them  that  the  King  ordered  so  many  to  be  slain 
that  he  kept  no  count  of  the  number  of  scalps,  but  only 
that  the  blood  flowed  in  rivers.  The  salient  points  of 
this  edifying  discourse  are  preserved  in  the  Relation  of 
167 1.  St.  Lusson  then  followed  in  a  less  flowery  style, 
and  set  forth  the  meaning  of  the  ceremony,  and  told  the 
assembled  nations  that  they  were  all  under  the  protection 
of  this  great  King  across  the  sea,  of  whom  they  had  just 
heard.  Then  the  Te  Deiim  was  chanted  and  a  grand 
fusillade  closed  the  proceedings.  The  Indians  were  pro- 
foundly impressed.  The  formal  ceremony,  the  rich  vest- 
ments of  the  priests,  the  chanting,  the  firing,  and  the 
shouting  appealed  to  their  innate  love  of  ceremonial,  and, 
in  the  sermon  of  Father  Allouez  and  St.  Lusson's  address, 
with  Perrot's  embellishments  in  interpretation,  they 
carried  away  matter  for  narration  and  discussion  at  the 
lodge  fires  of  many  tribes  for  long  years  to  come.  In 
such  manner  did  France  enter  into  possession  of  the 
head-waters  of  the  great  valleys  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Mississippi. 


CHAPTER   XX 

JOLLIET  AND  LA  SALLE — THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY  UNVEILED 

THE  period  of  Catholic  puritanism  passed  away 
with  the  arrival  of  the  troops,  and  men  and 
women,  being  relieved  of  fear  for  their  scalps, 
became  less  anxious  concerning  their  souls. 
One  of  the  pious  sisters  writes :  "  The  golden  age  is 
over — the  officers  and  soldiers  have  ruined  the  vineyard 
of  the  Lord."  On  the  loth  of  January,  1667,  there  was 
a  ball  at  Quebec — the  first  ball.  "  God  grant,"  prays 
the  "  Journal  "  of  the  Jesuit  fathers,  "  that  it  may  not  be 
a  precedent."  Maisonneuve,  the  belated  crusader  who 
led  a  forlorn  hope  to  found  the  city  of  Montreal  in 
the  debatable  land,  was  retired  to  France  in  1665 — 
an  impossible  person  under  the  new  conditions.  There 
was,  however,  no  relaxation  of  orthodoxy.  Huguenots 
might  indeed  go  to  Canada  and  pass  through  and  trade 
in  it,  but  they  could  not  assemble  to  practise  "  their 
false  religion,"  nor  settle  down  to  permanent  residence. 
There  was  no  attempt  at  persecution,  although  there  were 
many  of  the  reformed  religion  in  the  country. 

The  peace  had  opened  up  all  routes  to  the  upper  lakes, 
and  the  active  and  capable  intendant.  Talon,  together  with 
Courcelles  and  Frontenac,  the  successive  governors, 
thought  of  nothing  so  much  as  to  develop  the  fur  trade, 
discover  the  mines  of  copper  in  the  far  West,  and  open  up 
the  country  in  its  full  extent.  The  great  river  of  the 
West  had  indeed  been  long  since  discovered  near  its 
mouth  by  Hernando  de  Soto,  but  the  importance  of  his 
discovery  was  not  recognised.  The  knowledge  had  been 
practically  lost,  and  the  Mississippi  had  been  confused, 
upon  the  Spanish  maps,  with  other  large  rivers  falling 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Chouart  and  Radisson  had, 
indeed,  reached  its  upper  waters,  but  they  had  not  appre- 

341 


342    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

ciated  the  magnitude  of  the  river.  That  had  been 
gradually  revealed  by  the  reports  of  the  Indians  who 
congregated  at  La  Pointe  and  the  Sault  on  Lake  Su- 
perior, and  at  Green  Bay  on  Lake  Michigan.  Father 
Dablon,  in  the  Relation  of  1671,  gave  a  general  review  of 
the  geography  of  the  West  which  displays  considerable 
knowledge  of  the  great  river  and  the  Indians  upon  its 
upper  reaches.  He  was  in  doubt,  however,  whether  it 
discharged  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  or  into  the  Vermilion 
Sea.  Talon  was  determined  to  know  its  real  outlet,  and 
recommended  Jolliet  to  Frontenac,  the  newly  arrived 
governor,  as  the  most  suitable  person  for  that  purpose.  _ 

Jolliet  was  a  Canadian  by  birth,  born  in  Quebec  in 
1645,  and  had  already  been  up  to  Lake  Superior.  While 
free  from  those  salient  peculiarities  which  are  often 
associated  with  genius,  he  was  endowed  with  great 
courage  and  enterprise  tempered  by  good  nature  and 
common  sense.  He  had  been  well  educated  by  the  Jesuits 
in  Quebec,  for  he  had  intended  to  enter  their  order,  and, 
indeed,  had  taken  some  preliminary  steps  towards  the 
priesthood ;  but  the  woods  and  streams  called  him,  and  he 
adopted  the  life  of  an  explorer  and  trader.  His  know- 
ledge of  mathematics  was  considerable,  and  after  Fran- 
quelin's  death  he  became  royal  hydrographer.  On 
returning  from  his  western  explorations  he  married,  in 
1675,  Claire,  daughter  of  Frangois  Bissot,  a  Quebec  mer- 
chant who  had  obtained  the  concession  of  an  immense 
extent  of  coast  on  the  north  shore  of  the  gulf.  This 
drew  his  energies  eastward,  and  in  1679  he  explored  the 
country  up  the  Saguenay  as  far  as  Hudson's  Bay.  For 
this  and  for  his  western  discoveries  the  Island  of  Anti- 
costi  was  granted  to  him.  He  had  an  extensive  fishing 
establishment  on  that  island,  and  its  destruction  by  the 
English  impoverished  him.  He  died  poor,  and  the  place 
of  his  death  is  unknown.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been 
somewhere  on  the  Labrador  coast.  No  explorer  in 
Canada  covered  so  extensive  a  field — from  the  Mississippi 
on  the  west  to  Hudson's  Bay  on  the  north  and  Labrador 
on  the  east. 


Paul    de    Chomedey,     Sieur     de    Maison- 
neuve,    Founder  of  INIontreal 


JOLLIET  AND   LA   SALLE       343 

Frontenac  had  hardly  arrived  in  Canada,  in  the  autumn 
of  1672,  when  JolHet  was  despatched  on  his  memorable 
voyage.  He  reached  Michilimackinac  on  December  8, 
1672,  and  found  Father  Marquette  (who  had  been  desig- 
nated as  his  companion)  at  the  mission  of  St.  Ignace. 
It  was  a  happy  combination,  for  JoUiet  was  a  favourite 
of  the  Jesuits,  and  Marquette,  ever  since  he  had  gone  to 
La  Pointe,  had  dreamed  of  such  an  expedition.  He  had 
been  studying  the  Illinois  dialect,  and  during  the  winter 
of  1672-73  he  and  Jolliet  made  plans  and  gathered  infor- 
mation for  the  voyage.  On  May  17,  1673,  they  started 
with  five  men.  It  was  a  slight  outfit  for  so  important  an 
enterprise,  and  the  traders  and  Indians  who  thronged  the 
sandy  shore  of  the  cove  to  see  them  ofif  watched  with 
doubtful  minds  as  the  two  slight  bark  canoes  rounded 
Point  St.  Ignace  to  the  right  and  turned  into  the  broad 
waters  of  Lake  Michigan.  The  course  was  westwards 
until  Green  Bay  was  reached,  where  it  turned  to  the  south- 
west, and  halfway  up  the  bay  Marquette  stopped  to 
preach  to  the  Folles  Avoines,  or  Menomonees,  whose 
name  still  clings  to  the  river  which  bounds  Wisconsin  on 
the  northeast.  The  "  wild  oats "  which  formed  their 
chief  food  grows  abundantly  in  the  marshes  and  in  the 
shallow  watercourses  and  innumerable  small  lakes  of  the 
Northwest.  All  the  tribes  of  that  region  (Wisconsin 
and  Minnesota)  use  it  for  food,  but  the  French  met 
it  first  in  extensive  use  with  this  tribe.  They  were  an 
Algonquin  people,  as  indeed  were  all  the  surrounding 
nations  excepting  the  Winnebagoes,  and  Marquette  was 
master  of  all  the  dialects  of  Algonquin  speech. 

The  voyagers  continued  their  way  to  the  Fox  River  at 
the  head  of  the  bay — a  river  with  many  falls  and  rapids, 
utilised  in  our  day  for  many  large  mills.  Allouez  had 
already  founded  the  mission  of  St.  Frangois  Xavier  at 
the  first  rapid  of  the  ascent,  still  called  De  Pere,  from  the 
fact  that  the  Jesuit  fathers'  chapel  was  erected  there. 
They  made  no  stay,  but  pushed  on  to  the  town  of  the 
Mascoutins,  the  extreme  limit  up  to  that  time  reached 
by  the  French  missionaries.    Three  nations,  the  Miamis, 


344    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

the  Kickapoos,  and  the  Mascoutins,  dwelt  there  in  har- 
mony, and  there  the  good  father  was  encouraged  by  find- 
ing a  large  cross  which  Allouez,  his  predecessor,  had 
planted  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  and  to  which  the 
natives  had  attached  votive  offerings.  The  Mascoutins 
are  usually  called,  in  the  old  French  narratives,  "  the  Fire 
Nation "  '(A^a//o«  dc  Feu)  by  a  philological  mistake 
similar  to  that  pointed  out  in  the  case  of  the  Puants.  The 
real  signification  of  the  name  is  "  prairie  "  nation,  for  in 
their  country  the  French  came  upon  the  open  prairie  land. 
The  word  for  fire,  in  Algonquin,  is  similar  in  sound  to 
that  for  land  bare  of  trees.  A  council  was  held  and  the 
voyagers  stated  the  object  of  their  visit  and  asked  for 
guides.  Two  Miami  Indians  were  given  them,  and  on 
June  ID  the  Frenchmen  resumed  their  journey  up  the  Fox 
River.  Through  the  maze  of  marshes  and  little  lakes  at 
the  head  of  the  Fox  their  guides  led  them  to  a  point  only 
twenty-seven  hundred  paces  distant  from  an  elbow  of  the 
Wisconsin,  where  that  river  turns  to  the  southwest.  The 
place  is  now  occupied  by  a  town  called  Portage,  which 
extends  to  both  streams.  The  savages  helped  them  across 
with  their  baggage  and  canoes,  and  saw  them  safely  away 
to  the  southwest,  alone  on  their  adventurous  journey. 
The  country  was  very  beautiful  and  moose  and  deer  were 
numerous ;  but  all  their  skill  as  canoemen  was  taxed,  for 
the  river,  though  wide  and  quiet,  abounded  with  sandy 
shallows.  After  paddling  about  forty  leagues  the  two 
canoes  glided  out  into  the  broad  Mississippi  at  a  place 
now  marked  by  the  town  Prairie  du  Chien. 

The  voyagers  were  now  over  the  threshold  of  the  great 
central  basin  of  the  continent  and  were  floating  on  the 
current  of  a  grand  and  beautiful  stream — floating  south- 
wards— but  whither?  Was  it  to  the  Vermilion  Sea 
(Gulf  of  California),  as  Frontenac  told  Jolliet  would  be 
probable,  or  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico?  It  was  necessary 
to  know,  for  profound  and  far-reaching  results  would 
follow  if  this  were  indeed  an  avenue  to  the  great  South 
Sea  and  the  spice  islands  of  Cathay. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  volume  to  follow  the 


JOLLIET  AND   LA   SALLE        345 

wondering  Frenchmen  down  the  ever  broadening  river 
of  the  West;  nor  to  dwell  upon  the  bands  of  bison  and 
flocks  of  turkeys  which  took  the  place  of  the  game  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  valley.  They  noticed  the  great  river  from 
the  west,  known  afterwards  as  the  Missouri,  and  the 
stream  from  the  east,  which  La  Salle  knew  as  the  Ohio. 
They  began  to  think  the  river  they  were  floating  on  would 
carry  them  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  but  that  great  turbu- 
lent western  stream  they  thought  would  surely  lead  them 
to  the  Vermilion  Sea.  They  had  no  time  to  follow  it  up, 
for  it  was  necessary  first  to  ascertain  the  outflow  of  the 
Mississippi.  They  communicated  with  the  Indians,  whom 
they  found  to  be  Illinois,  and  they  floated  down  from 
tribe  to  tribe,  with  many  adventures,  until  they  reached 
the  river  Akamsea  (Arkansas),  which  they  were  told  was 
ten  days'  journey  from  the  sea.  They  took  the  latitude 
and  concluded  that  they  were  not  more  than  three  days 
distant  from  the  north  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  into 
which  they  then  became  certain  that  the  great  river  dis- 
charged. They  knew  that  if  they  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Spaniards  they  would  be  imprisoned,  or  more  likely 
killed,  and  the  fruits  of  their  discovery  would  be  lost ; 
so  they  turned  their  canoes  northwards  and  soon  found 
the  difference  between  floating  down  the  Mississippi  and 
stemming  its  current.  On  the  return  voyage  they  learned 
from  the  Indians  of  a  better  route.  They  ascended  the 
Illinois,  and  branching  northwards  into  the  Des  Plaines 
River  they  came  to  the  portage  at  the  Chicago  River — 
one  of  the  cardinal  points  of  the  hydrography  of  the  con- 
tinent, for  there  the  brim  of  the  two  great  river  basins  is 
almost  obliterated.  On  the  west  and  south  Lake  Michi- 
gan is  bounded  by  a  low  rim  of  rock  which,  in  the  glacial 
age,  had  been  worn  through  and  a  channel  had  existed 
connecting  the  two  great  basins.  In  the  course  of  ages 
the  channel  had  been  filled  and  the  only  barrier  to  the 
lake  was  a  long,  low  ridge  of  glacial  drift  from  six  to 
ten  feet  higher  than  the  lake  level.  The  distance  between 
the  ridge  and  the  lake  margin  varied,  and  between  them 
the  Chicago  River  flowed  with  a  fork  from  the  north  and 


346    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

a  fork  from  the  south.  These  unite  in  the  centre  of  the 
business  part  of  the  present  city  into  a  short  stream,  not 
a  mile  long,  opening  into  the  lake,  and  formed  in  early 
times  a  shelter  harbour  in  the  low,  reedy  marshland. 
There  canoes  bound  to  the  southwest  turned  in  from  the 
lake  to  seek  the  portage.  Dablon,  in  August,  1674,  de- 
scribing the  place  from  Jolliet's  lips,  writes  that  it  is  a 
harbour  very  convenient  for  "  receiving  vessels  and 
sheltering  them  from  the  wind."  Jolliet  and  Marquette 
were  on  the  return  voyage  northward,  and  followed  up 
the  Des  Plaines  to  its  nearest  point  of  approach  to  the 
southern  fork  of  the  Chicago  River,  which  would  be  at  a 
place  now  known  as  Summit,  about  four  miles  outside 
the  city  limits.  The  distance  across  the  portage  varied 
with  the  season  from  four  to  nine  miles,  and  in  a  wet 
season  it  might  even  be  possible  to  paddle  a  canoe  from 
one  water  to  another,  for  the  south  fork  of  the  Chicago 
River  rises  in  a  swamp  which  communicates  with  the  Des 
Plaines.  Many  changes  have  resulted  from  the  making 
and  winning  of  land  in  building  a  great  city,  but  such 
were  the  natural  features  of  the  site  before  the  city  was 
founded.  Jolliet's  account  of  it  is  in  Father  Dablon's 
narrative.  He  writes  again :  "  We  could  go  with  facil- 
ity to  Florida  in  a  barque  and  with  very  easy  navigation. 
It  would  only  be  necessary  to  make  a  canal  by  cutting 
through  but  half  a  league  of  prairie  to  pass  from  the  foot 
of  the  lake  of  Illinois  [Michigan]  to  the  river  St.  Louis 
[Des  Plaines]."  Jolliet's  idea  has  been  carried  out  dur- 
ing the  last  few  years  in  the  great  Sanitary  and  Ship 
Canal  connecting  the  south  fork  of  the  Chicago  River 
with  the  Des  Plaines  River  at  the  present  town  of  Joliet, 
and  the  curious  traveller  may  see,  in  the  heart  of  the 
great  city  which  strides  across  the  portage,  the  water 
running  in  a  steady  current  from  the  lake  a  mile  behind 
him  towards  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  sixteen  hundred  miles 
distant.  In  1673  the  seven  Frenchmen  carried  their 
canoes  over  the  low  ridge  and  launched  them  into  St. 
Lawrence  water,  bearing  with  them  the  secret  of  the 
West. 


JOLLIET  AND  LA  SALLE        347 

From  the  Chicago  portage  the  voyagers  pursued  their 
way  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  Once  more  they 
lifted  their  canoes  from  the  water  to  cross  the  portage 
at  Sturgeon  Bay  and  cut  off  the  promontory  which  forms 
the  eastern  side  of  Green  Bay.  At  last,  after  2800  miles 
of  travel,  they  arrived  at  the  first  rapids  of  the  Fox  River 
— at  the  mission  station  of  St.  Franqois  Xavier.  It  was 
late  in  September — too  late  to  go  down  to  Quebec  that 
year,  and  the  travellers  needed  rest.  Marquette  had  in 
the  meantime  been  transferred  to  this  station  and  had 
reached  the  end  of  his  journey.  It  was  well ;  for  the 
hardships  he  had  gone  through  had  implanted  the 
beginnings  of  the  disease  which  was  soon  to  carry  him 
off.  Jolliet  was  eager  to  report  to  Frontenac  at  Quebec, 
but  now  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  rest  and 
prepare  an  account  of  their  discoveries.  In  the  spring 
of  1674  Jolliet  started,  but  his  canoe  upset  in  going  down 
the  Lachine  Rapids,  near  Montreal,  and  all  his  maps  and 
papers  were  lost.  With  difficulty  he  escaped.  His  crew 
and  a  young  Indian  he  was  bringing  down  were  drowned. 
Father  Marquette's  report  and  map  were  sent  in  usual 
course  to  his  Superior,  and  have  survived.  It  is  upon 
those  records  that  authentic  knowledge  of  the  details 
of  the  voyage  rests. 

The  remaining  life  of  the  gentle-souled  Jesuit  was  short. 
All  through  the  summer  of  1674  he  struggled  with  disease, 
but  in  October  he  thought  he  was  well  enough  to  start 
for  the  Illinois  country,  where  he  intended  to  found  a 
mission.  The  winter  set  in  and  his  progress  was  slow. 
It  was  December  before  he  reached  the  Chicago  portage, 
and  there  he  had  to  spend  the  winter  in  a  little  hut  erected 
by  his  attendants.  In  the  spring  of  1675  he  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  chief  town  of  the  Illinois  tribe  where,  to  the 
assembled  people,  he  preached  the  Gospel  with  great 
power  and  with  the  earnestness  of  a  man  whose  end  was 
near.  Then  he  set  his  face  homewards  to  the  mission  of 
St.  Ignace  of  Michilimackinac  and  his  men  followed  up 
the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
northward    current.      When   his   time    drew   near   they 


348    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

stopped  at  the  mouth  of  a  river  where  now  stands  the  city 
of  Ludington,  and  his  attendants  put  up  a  sHght  shelter 
of  bark,  under  which  they  placed  the  dying  priest.  About 
midnight  he  passed  away.  His  men  heard  his  voice  in 
the  darkness,  as  he  gave  thanks  that  he  had  been  permitted 
to  die  as  a  missionary  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  the 
heathen.  Without  a  struggle,  his  last  sleep  came  quietly 
upon  him,  and  in  the  morning  his  men  buried  him  there 
in  the  forest  wilderness  on  the  lake  shore  and  marked  his 
grave  with  a  cross.  He  was  not  forgotten ;  for  a  year 
later  some  Kiskakon  Indians,  hunting  on  the  shores  of 
the  lake,  went  to  see  the  grave  of  "  their  father."  They 
disinterred  the  body,  and  after  the  custom  of  their  people 
dissected  and  washed  the  bones  and  dried  them  in  the  sun, 
and  reverently,  as  if  of  a  dead  kinsman,  placed  them  in  a 
box  of  bark.  Other  Indians  joined  them  and  a  proces- 
sion of  thirty  canoes  carried  the  remains  of  the  priest 
to  the  resting  place  of  his  choice  on  the  Strait  of  Michili- 
mackinac  and  delivered  them  to  Fathers  Nonvel  and  Pier- 
son.  They  were  buried  on  June  9,  1677,  in  the  chapel 
he  had  built.  Thirty  years  after,  when,  as  has  been 
related,  the  station  was  abandoned,  all  the  buildings, 
including  the  church,  were  burned  lest  they  should  be 
desecrated,  and  when  a  new  establishment  was  ordered 
it  was  made  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  strait.  In  the 
stir  of  trade  and  military  activity  which  followed,  the  site 
of  the  old  mission  was  neglected  and  the  landmarks  for- 
gotten until,  in  recent  years,  St.  Ignace  became  a  railway 
town  and  an  intelligent  interest  in  its  past  history  arose. 
In  1877  the  foundations  of  Marquette's  church  were  dis- 
covered, and  in  a  vault  the  bark  casket  was  found  con- 
taining the  remains  brought  by  the  savages  two  hundred 
years  before.  An  insignificant  pillar  with  an  inscription 
was  erected  to  mark  the  spot  and  a  small  square  sur- 
rounds it,  open  to  the  sandy  beach  where  the  canoes  were 
pulled  up  in  early  days.  Opposite  the  Island  of  Michili- 
mackinac  is  in  full  view;  across  the  strait,  on  the  right, 
is  the  site  of  the  second  fort  and  mission  and  the  main 
channel  to  Lake  Huron,  and  to  the  left  the  coast  leads 


JOLLIET  AND   LA  SALLE        349 

along  the  Detour  passage  into  Lake  Superior.  It  is 
a  quiet  spot,  only  disturbed  when  the  huge  ferryboat 
arrives  to  transfer  a  railway  train  across  the  strait. 

Father  Marquette,  so  far  as  the  respect  and  sympathy 
of  the  West  can  extend,  is  already  canonised;  but  the  pil- 
grim to  St.  Ignace  de  Michilimackinac  must  content  him- 
self with  the  natural  features  of  the  place,  for  although 


OF  Hcu^MACKIf^^C 
ichimw  City 


•4 


Sketch  Map  of  Strait  of  Michilimackinac.  St.  Ignace  =  Ancient 
Michilimackinac  =  Old  Mackinac.  Mackinac  Island  ^  Michi- 
limackinac, where  the  present  Fort  is  situated.     See  p.  2)Z7- 

the  inscription  on  the  little  monument  asserts  that  it  covers 
the  relics  of  the  good  priest,  the  assertion  is  not  generally 
accepted  to  its  full  extent.  A  high  authority  states  that 
some  of  the  relics  are  shown  at  the  Jesuit  college  named 
after  Marquette,  in  Milwaukee.  Popular  imagination 
loves  to  adorn  the  memory  of  its  favourites,  and  although 
Jolliet  was  the  chief  of  the  expedition,  his  leadership  has 
been  obscured  by  veneration  for  the  humble  and  saintly 
Jesuit  and  sympathy  for  his  early  death. 


350    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

It  has  already  been  related  that  when  Jolliet  was  on 
his  way  down  from  his  voyage  with  Pere  to  Lake  Su- 
perior in  search  of  copper  mines,  he  met  at  the  portage 
from  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario  to  the  Grand  River  the 
party  of  Sulpician  priests  in  company  with  La  Salle,  and 
that  La  Salle,  under  the  pretext  of  illness,  turned  back. 
That  incident  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  independent 
enterprises  which  completed  the  exploration  and  defini- 
tion of  the  St.  Lawrence  basin  on  the  southwest. 

In  the  year  1667  Robert  Cavelier,  better  known  from 
a  property  he  held  in  France  as  La  Salle  or  de  La  Salle, 
arrived  in  Canada.  He  was  of  a  good  Norman  merchant 
family.  His  brother,  Abbe  Jean  Cavelier,  was  at  the 
time  in  Canada  as  a  priest  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice 
at  Montreal,  La  Salle  was  well  educated,  for  he  had 
intended  to  enter  the  Jesuit  order  and  had  been  trained  in 
their  schools,  but  had  changed  his  mind  and  determined 
to  seek  his  fortune  at  Montreal — then  the  portal  of  west- 
ern adventure.  He  was  only  twenty-three  years  old,  but 
his  character  was  formed — self-reliant,  proud,  reticent, 
persevering,  and  indomitable.  No  enterprise  appalled  him 
by  its  magnitude  and  no  complication  of  misfortune  could 
crush  him.  He  was  not  amiable,  nor  had  he  the  power  of 
attaching  men  to  himself  by  sympathy,  or  of  awakening 
enthusiasm  in  his  followers ;  yet  he  won  the  respect  of 
the  Indians  and  was  the  object  of  the  unbounded  friend- 
ship and  fidelity  of  one  Frenchman  to  so  remarkable  a 
degree  that  to  find  a  parallel  to  the  devotion  of  Henri  de 
Tonty  to  La  Salle  we  must  go  back  to  the  history  of  Jona- 
than and  David.  The  distrustful  and  taciturn  La  Salle 
was  no  David,  yet  he  had  the  power  of  impressing  men 
high  in  rank  with  the  importance  of  his  schemes.  In 
carrying  out  his  plans,  however,  he  had  not  the  necessary 
personal  magnetism  which  secures  obedience,  fidelity,  and 
aid,  for  no  man  can  carry  out  a  great  enterprise  single- 
handed.  The  fickleness  apprehended  by  Galinee  at.  the 
commencement  of  the  voyage  was  rather  intractability 
than  inconstancy. 

La  Salle  was  a  favourite  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice, 


JOLLIET  AND  LA  SALLE        351 

and  as  seigneurs  of  the  island  of  Montreal  they  gave 
him,  in  the  year  of  his  arrival,  a  grant  of  land  west  of  the 
city,  just  at  the  head  of  the  rapids— Sault  St.  Louis,  or 
Lachine  Rapids  of  to-day.  There  was  at  that  time  no 
road,  save  the  trail  beside  the  river,  and  there  were  no 
settlers.  It  was  prairie  on  the  lower  level,  and  where  the 
land  rises  at  the  entrance  to  the  present  canal  the  forest 
came  down  to  the  waterside.  La  Salle  commenced  clear- 
ing, built  a  house  for  himself  and  obtained  a  few  settlers ; 
but  the  broad  avenue  of  Lake  St.  Louis  led  his  thoughts 
far  away  into  the  mysterious  west.  Some  Seneca  Indians 
stayed  with  him  during  the  winter  of  1668-69  and  told 
him  of  the  Ohio,  a  great  and  beautiful  river  of  the  West 
accessible  from  their  country.  The  course  of  his  life  was 
decided.  He  disposed  of  all  his  property  and  improve- 
ments and  applied  the  proceeds  to  a  new  enterprise.  He 
presented  to  the  Governor,  De  Courcelles,  his  plan  of 
exploration,  and  the  Governor  persuaded  him  to  join  his 
expedition  to  that  of  Dollier  de  Casson  and  Galinee.  The 
united  party  started  from  the  lake  shore  opposite  his  own 
seigniory  on  July  6,  1669. 

It  is  clear  that  at  the  start  all  were  of  one  mind  and 
that  their  object  was  to  discover  the  Ohio  of  the  Senecas. 
For  that  reason  they  went  straight  to  Irondequoit  Bay, 
near  the  Genessee  River,  and  to  the  chief  town  of  the 
Senecas.  It  is  also  clear  that  at  the  portage  where  they 
met  Jolliet  MM.  Dollier  and  Galinee  changed  their 
minds,  while  the  defection  of  La  Salle  indicates  that  his 
purpose  was  unaltered.  The  Ohio  of  his  aim  was  not  in 
the  direction  whence  Jolliet  had  come,  but  was  a  river 
which  took  its  rise  three  days'  journey  from  the  chief 
town  of  the  Senecas.  They  parted  on  the  last  day  of 
September,  1669,  and  from  that  time  until  August  6, 
1 67 1,  when  he  signed  a  notarial  deed  at  Montreal,  La 
Salle's  movements  are  unrecorded  and  unknown.  Some 
of  his  men  deserted  and  returned  to  Montreal,  and  from 
that  day  the  seigniory  of  La  Salle  was  called  Lachine 
(China),  in  derision,  and  the  name  extends  to  the  whole 
town  and  parish  to  this  day — an  unconscious  tribute  to 


352    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

the  memory  of  a  great  explorer.  In  this  interval  of  un- 
recorded activity  the  discovery  was  made  which  some 
have  maintained  to  have  been  the  Mississippi,  but  which 
beyond  all  reasonable  doubt  was  the  Ohio. 

That  controversy  should  ever  have  arisen  on  a  matter 
so  plain  is  one  of  the  many  unaccountable  things  in 
American  history.  La  Salle  never  claimed  the  discovery 
of  the  Mississippi;  nor  did  his  patron  Frontenac  ever 
claim  it  for  him.  On  the  contrary,  in  Frontenac's  des- 
patch to  the  French  Government,  dated  November  14, 
1674,  he  reported  that  Jolliet  had  recently  returned  and 
had  discovered  a  great  river  flowing  from  north  to  south, 
and  had  followed  it  to  within  a  few  days'  journey  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  had  sent  a  map  of  the  country  dis- 
covered. All  the  contemporaneous  maps  are  clear  upon 
the  point  and  subsequent  vague  expressions  of  detraction 
cannot  weigh  against  the  mass  of  positive  evidence.  No 
amount  of  speculative  argument  can  dispose  of  the  fact, 
recorded  in  the  registers  at  Quebec,  that  in  1680  the 
intendant,  Duchesneau,  and  the  governor,  Frontenac,  con- 
curred in  a  grant  to  Jolliet  of  the  Island  of  Anticosti  in 
consideration  of  this  very  discovery  "  which  the  said 
Sieur  Jolliet  has  made  of  the  country  of  the  Illinois, 
whereof  he  has  given  us  the  plan  on  which  was  drawn 
the  map  which  we  sent  two  years  ago  to  Monseigneur 
Colbert."  Although  Jolliet's  first  maps  and  papers  were 
lost,  he  presented  a  map  to  Frontenac  in  1674,  showing 
his  discoveries.  The  Mississippi  is  called  La  Riviere 
Buade,  after  Frontenac's  family  name.  The  chief  facts 
are  set  forth  upon  the  map  in  a  signed  letter.  There  are 
several  later  maps  by  Jolliet  extant,  on  some  of  which  the 
discovery  of  the  Ohio  is  ascribed  to  La  Salle.  These  are 
dedicated  to  Colbert.  An  official  memoir,  attached  to  a 
despatch  from  M.  de  Denonville  to  the  French  govern- 
ment on  November  6,  1687,  states  the  real  facts  simply 
and  precisely  as  they  have  been  elucidated  after  long  con- 
troversy. "  The  year  after,  in  1672,  the  Mississippi  river 
was  discovered,  as  well  as  the  Illinois  Chaounanons  and 
other  tribes  unknown  to  the  Europeans  by  Sieur  Jolliet 


JOLLIET  AND   LA   SALLE        353 

and  the  Jesuit  Father  Marquette,  who  reached  the 
thirty-second  degree,  planting  the  Royal  arms  and  taking 
over,  in  the  king's  name,  the  newly  discovered  countries. 
A  few  years  later  Sieur  de  La  Salle  pushed  his  discoveries 
farther  onward,  as  far  as  the  sea,  taking  possession  every- 
w^here  by  planting  the  Royal  Arms."  The  subject  is  ex- 
haustively discussed  by  Parkman  ("  Discovery  of  the 
Great  West"),  and  Harrisse  ("Notes  pour  servir ") 
summarises  the  question  conclusively.  It  is  not,  however, 
necessary  to  suppose  with  Parkman  that  La  Salle,  after 
turning  back,  went  to  Onondaga  to  get  guides  to  the  por- 
tages from  Lake  Erie.  The  Genessee  River  flows  through 
the  Seneca  country,  and  from  it  there  is  a  portage  to  the 
head-waters  of  the  Allegheny,  which  at  the  "  Forks " 
unites  with  the  Monongahela  to  form  the  Ohio.  This  last 
was  the  river  "  three  days'  journey  distant,"  which  the 
Senecas  described  to  La  Salle.  It  was  the  route  of  Iro- 
quois war  parties  to  the  southwest.  As  Harrisse  tacitly 
intimates,  it  was  not  necessary  to  go  to  Lake  Erie  to  reach 
the  Ohio.  All  the  available  evidence  goes  to  show  that 
La  Salle  on  that  occasion  went  down  the  Ohio  as  far  only 
as  the  falls  at  the  present  Louisville,  and  that  he  did  not 
reach  the  "  great  river  " — the  Mississippi. 

As  has  been  shown,  La  Salle  was  certainly  back  in 
1 67 1  from  his  obscure  voyage ;  for  in  August  of  that 
year  he  was  raising  money  in  Montreal.  He  must  have 
been  concerned  in  new  enterprises  connected  with  the  fur 
trade,  for  he  was  again  in  Montreal  on  December  16, 
1672,  signing  an  obHgation  to  make  certain  payments 
either  in  cash  or  in  furs.  We  may  conceive  of  his  spend- 
ing time  also  in  acquiring  the  Indian  languages  and  in 
maturing  his  ambitious  scheme  for  opening  up  the  West. 

The  new  governor,  the  Count  de  Frontenac,  arrived 
in  the  autumn  of  1672  and  in  him  La  Salle  found  a 
spirit  responsive  to  any  daring  enterprise.  The  scheme 
which  was  visionary  to  the  merchants  of  Montreal  and 
Quebec  was  sober  reason  to  Frontenac,  and  in  1673, 
while  Jolliet  and  Marquette  were  on  their  journey  to  the 
Mississippi,  Frontenac  took  the  first  step  by  building  a 


354    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

fort  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Ontario  on  the  site  of  the  present 
city  of  Kingston.  He  had  acted  on  the  recommendation 
of  La  Salle  in  selecting  the  site,  and  early  in  the  spring 
had  sent  him  to  Onondaga  to  invite  the  Iroquois  chiefs 
to  meet  him  in  council  at  the  site  selected.  The  governor 
went  up  the  river  with  an  escort  of  four  hundred  men 
and  with  a  military  pomp  and  circumstance  which  deeply 
impressed  the  Indians.  Sixty  of  the  leading  chiefs  of  the 
Iroquois  confederacy  attended  the  council.  The  territory 
was  theirs  and  they  knew  well  the  importance  of  the 
move ;  but  Frontenac  carried  them  by  imposing  cere- 
monies ;  and  partly  by  blandishments,  partly  by  effron- 
tery, disarmed  their  opposition.  The  fort  was  traced  by 
his  engineers  and  half  built  before  the  speeches  were 
over.  La  Salle,  who  became  a  firm  partisan  of  the  gov- 
ernor, was  left  in  command.  He  was  now  established  in 
an  important  trading  post  on  the  margin  of  the  West,  and 
it  became  evident  that  his  plans  would  interfere  with  the 
business  of  the  merchants  of  Quebec  and  Montreal  and 
traverse  the  designs  of  the  Jesuit  fathers.  Hence  arose 
a  bitter  and  sometimes  unscrupulous  opposition,  which  in 
the  end  thwarted  his  enterprise. 

The  following  year  La  Salle,  provided  with  strong 
recommendations  from  Frontenac,  went  to  France,  and  in 
1675  he  was  successful  in  obtaining  a  patent  of  nobility 
and  a  grant  of  the  seigniory  of  Fort  Frontenac  upon  the 
condition,  among  others,  of  repaying  the  cost  of  its 
establishment.  All  the  conditions  were  faithfully  carried 
out ;  a  nucleus  of  settlers  began  to  form,  bands  of  Indians 
began  to  resort  to  the  post,  Recollet  friars  were  stationed 
there  to  attend  to  their  spiritual  needs  (for  neither  La 
Salle  nor  Frontenac  liked  the  Jesuits),  and  vessels  began 
to  appear  upon  the  lake.  A  firm  basis  for  advance  was 
established. 

It  was  time  for  the  next  step,  and  in  the  autumn  of 
1677  La  Salle  again  went  to  France  upon  the  advice  of  the 
governor.  He  succeeded  in  enlisting  the  support  of 
Colbert,  Seignelay,  the  Prince  de  Conti,  and  other  influen- 
tial noblemen,  and  obtained  authority  to  establish,  at  his 


JOLLIET  AND   LA  SALLE        355 

own  cost  and  risk,  not  only  two,  but  as  many  posts  in  the 
West  as  he  wished.  He  made  large  purchases  of  goods 
for  the  Indian  trade,  and  in  July,  1678,  sailed  from  La 
Rochelle  in  company  with  Henri  de  Tonty,  whom  the 
Prince  de  Conti  had  strongly  recommended  as  his  lieu- 
tenant. No  time  was  lost  after  his  return.  La  Motte 
was  sent  on  in  November  to  the  Niagara  River  to  build 
a  fort,  and  with  him  was  Father  Hennepin,  one  of  the 
Recollet  friars  stationed  at  Fort  Frontenac.  At  the  end 
of  the  year  La  Salle  arrived.  He  succeeded  in  obtaining 
the  consent  of  the  Seneca  tribe  for  the  fort  he  purposed 
building,  but  not  without  much  difficulty,  for  his  enemies 
had  sown  suspicion  in  their  minds. 

We  have  seen  that,  on  account  of  the  long-continued 
hostility  of  the  Iroquois,  communication  with  the  West 
had  been  carried  on  by  way  of  the  Ottawa,  and  although 
the  existence  of  a  great  fall  interrupting  navigation  be- 
tween lakes  Erie  and  Ontario  was  known,  there  is  nothing 
on  record  to  show  that  such  knowledge  had  any  other 
basis  than  Indian  report.  Hennepin  was  the  first  Euro- 
pean to  describe  the  Falls  of  Niagara.  There  have  been 
changes  since  his  day,  made  by  the  retrocession  continu- 
ally going  on,  but  Hennepin's  description  is  fairly  correct 
save  that  his  ill-regulated  imagination  interpolated  three 
mountains  into  the  locality  and  exaggerated  the  height 
of  the  fall  to  over  six  hundred  feet.  It  is  really  158 
feet  on  the  Canadian  and  167  on  the  American  side.  At 
that  cardinal  point  the  entire  drainage  water  of  the  upper 
St.  Lawrence  basin  falls  to  the  lower  plain  over  an  escarp- 
ment stretching  across  the  country  to  Lake  Huron.  The 
waters,  in  the  erosion  of  long  ages,  have  eaten  away  the 
rock  and  have  formed  a  ravine  or  trough  now  seven  miles 
in  length  back  from  the  edge  of  the  escarpment.  Hen- 
nepin supplements  his  description  by  a  bird's-eye  view  of 
the  falls  and  the  upper  level  of  country  as  far  as  Lake 
Erie.  It  is  drawn  from  memory,  and  he  has  placed  the 
Griffon  on  the  distant  Lake  Erie,  but  nevertheless  the 
drawing  conveys  a  fair,  if  rough,  idea  of  the  locality  and 
proves  that  he  really  saw  it.     The  party  landed  on  the 


356    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

eastern  or  American  side,  and  passing  a  few  miles  up  the 
river  erected  a  storehouse  near  the  present  Lewiston  at 
the  foot  of  the  escarpment ;  not,  however,  without  having 
first  examined  the  opposite,  or  Canadian,  side  as  far  up  as 
the  Chippewa  River.  If  anything  had  previously  been 
known  of  the  place  there  would  have  been  no  need  of 
prospecting  for  the  shortest  and  most  convenient  portage. 

La  Salle,  with  Tonty,  sailed  in  a  brigantine  from  Fort 
Frontenac  late  in  December,  1678.  His  iron  determina- 
tion sought  to  overrule  all  inclemencies  of  season.  He 
passed  by  the  south  shore  to  make  a  conciliatory  visit  to 
the  Iroquois.  He  got  from  them  permission  to  build  a 
vessel  on  the  upper  lake,  to  carry  supplies  over  the 
Niagara  portage,  and  under  the  pretext  of  erecting  a 
blacksmith's  forge  to  build  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river.  Proceeding  onwards  his  vessel  got  becalmed,  and 
impatient  at  the  delay  he  and  Tonty  landed  and  proceeded 
on  foot.  The  vessel  was  wrecked  in  a  sudden  storm  and 
all  the  supplies  but  the  anchors  for  the  projected  ship 
were  lost.  It  was  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  misfortunes. 
La  Salle's  enemies  were  already  beginning  to  corrupt  his 
men. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  La  Salle  selected  a  suitable 
place  above  the  falls  to  build  his  vessel.  The  contro- 
versy which  at  one  time  existed  as  to  the  precise  locality 
of  his  shipyard  was  decided  by  the  research  of  Mr.  O.  H. 
Marshall,  of  Buffalo.  Halfway  between  Tonawanda 
and  the  town  of  Niagara  Falls  a  small  stream  called 
Cayuga  Creek  falls  into  the  Niagara  River,  and  at  its 
mouth  is  a  small,  low  island  (Cayuga  Island)  separated 
from  the  shore  by  a  narrow  channel  of  the  main  river, 
locally  called  the  "  little  river,"  into  which  the  creek  dis- 
charges. The  little  village  at  the  place  is  now  called  La 
Salle.  It  is  at  the  foot  of  Grand  Island  in  a  spot  where 
the  water  is  quiet,  being  sheltered  by  Grand  Island  and 
Cayuga  Island,  from  the  main  current  of  the  river. 
There  stocks  were  prepared,  trees  were  felled  in  the  ad- 
joining forest,  planks  and  timbers  were  sawn  and  shaped, 
and  on  January  26,  1679,  was  laid  the  keel  of  the  first 


JOLLIET  AND   LA  SALLE        ^SJ 

ship  to  sail  upon  the  upper  lakes.  Within  the  memory 
of  old  residents  the  spot  has  been  known  as  "  the  old 
shipyard,"  for  the  United  States  Government  in  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century  built  some  vessels  there 
for  service  on  the  upper  lakes.  It  was  on  the  mainland 
just  above  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  In  May  the  vessel 
was  launched  and  named  the  Griffon  and  floated  in  the 
Cayuga  channel,  safe  from  the  jealousy  of  the  suspicious 
Senecas,  who  had  attempted  to  set  her  on  fire.  At  her 
prow  was  a  carved  griffin,  for  the  supporters  of  the  arms  ' 
of  Frontenac  were  griffins,  and  five  small  cannon  formed 
her  armament.  On  August  7,  1679,  she  passed  out  into 
Lake  Erie  and  spread  her  sails  over  its  almost  unknown 
waters. 

The  loss  of  the  brigantine  had  seriously  interfered  with 
La  Salle's  plans,  and  as  soon  as  the  construction  of  the 
Griffon  was  well  under  way  he  left  his  faithful  lieuten- 
ant in  charge,  and  in  the  depth  of  winter,  with  only  two 
men  as  attendants  and  a  dog  to  draw  his  baggage,  started- 
on  snowshoes  for  Fort  Frontenac  to  arrange  for  sup- 
plies to  replace  the  outfit  lost  in  the  wrecked  vessel. 
These,  as  soon  as  the  lake  opened,  were  sent  forward  in 
another  brigantine  and  carried  up  the  steep  and  long  por- 
tage. It  was  a  weary  and  laborious  task,  but  at  last 
everything  was  ready.  La  Salle,  Hennepin,  and  another 
Recollet  friar,  thirty-two  of  a  crew  in  all,  were  on  board, 
as,  with  a  salvo  of  cannon  and  chanting  Te  Deum,  they 
started  on  their  voyage  westward.  On  St.  Clare's  Day, 
August  12,  they  reached  the  shallow  water  of  Lake  St. 
Clair,  and  by  careful  sounding  got  through  safely  and 
launched  out  into  Lake  Huron,  where  they  encountered  a 
gale  which  staggered  even  the  imperturbable  La  Salle. 
At  last  they  reached  Michilimackinac  and  dropped  an- 
chor in  the  quiet  cove  of  St.  Ignace.  There  the  Griffon 
became  the  centre  of  a  swarm  of  canoes,  and  the  amazed 
savages  of  the  two  villages  of  Ottawas  and  Hurons  were 
startled  by  the  novel  sound  of  cannon.  The  vessel  pro- 
ceeded on  her  course  into  Lake  Michigan  and  anchored 
at  one  of  the  islands  at  the  entrance  of  Green  Bay.    Here 


358    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

a  quantity  of  furs  had  been  collected  by  an  advance  party 
of  La  Salle's  men,  and,  adding  the  furs  collected  by  him- 
self, he  loaded  all  upon  the  Griffon  and  sent  her  back  to 
appease  his  clamorous  creditors.  It  was  a  fatal  error, 
for  the  ship  was  never  again  heard  of.  Some  trifling 
wreckage  alone  indicated  that  she  had  foundered  in  a  gale 
which  came  on  not  long  after  her  departure.  The  pilot 
was  an  incompetent  who  had  already  twice  imperilled 
the  ship.  All  on  board  perished,  and  with  them  went 
down  the  furs  which  would  have  satisfied  La  Salle's 
creditors — as  well  as  all  the  surplus  supplies  sent  back  to 
be  stored  at  Niagara.  La  Salle  himself  continued  his 
voyage  up  the  lake  with  four  canoes  and  fourteen  men, 
but  before  he  had  gone  far  he  had  to  take  refuge  from 
the  same  storm  in  a  small  bay,  where  he  was  detained  five 
days.  Resuming  his  route  he  went  up  the  lake  and  pass- 
ing the  Chicago  portage  went  round  by  the  south  to  the 
eastern  shore,  to  the  mouth  of  what  Hennepin  calls  the 
Miami  River,  now  known  as  the  St.  Joseph.  There 
he  waited  until  his  party  was  reunited  by  the  arrival  of  the 
detachment  of  Henri  de  Tonty.  He  passed  the  time  in 
building  a  fort,  called  the  Fort  of  the  Miamis  by  Henne- 
pin. It  must  be  distinguished  from  a  later  fort  of  the 
same  name  built  on  the  Maumee  River  at  the  portage  to 
the  Wabash — a  shorter  route  by  Lake  Erie  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, afterwards  much  frequented.  His  party  being  re- 
assembled. La  Salle  started  up  the  river  on  December  3, 
and  after  some  difficulty  found  the  portage  at  a  place 
now  known  at  South  Bend  in  Indiana.  It  was  about  four 
miles  long,  over  level  and  marshy  ground,  and  led  to  the 
head  springs  of  the  Kankakee  River — an  affluent  of  the 
Illinois.  Hennepin  calls  it  the  Illinois ;  but  in  later 
years  that  name  was  restricted  to  the  river  formed  by 
the  union  of  the  Des  Plaines  from  the  Chicago  portage 
with  the  Kankakee  from  the  St.  Joseph  portage.  Here 
they  first  met  the  buffalo  of  the  western  prairies. 

The  year  drew  to  a  close  as  they  reached  the  chief 
town  of  the  Illinois.  It  was  deserted,  for  all  the  people 
were  away  hunting  buffalo,  and  it  was  not  until  January 


JOLLIET  AND   LA  SALLE        359 

4,  1680,  that  they  came  upon  an  inhabited  town  on  Peoria 
Lake.  The  Indians,  at  first  hospitable,  were  soon  ahen- 
ated  by  Indian  emissaries,  instigated  by  La  Salle's 
enemies.  He  therefore  removed  a  short  distance  fur- 
ther down  the  river  and  erected  a  fort,  which  he  called 
Crevecoeur, — Heartbreak, — a  name  expressive  of  the  ruin 
which  stared  him  in  the  face,  for  he  now  realised  the  fact 
that  the  Griffon  was  lost.  In  spite  of  the  jealous  reti- 
cence of  the  Illinois  Indians,  he  obtained  information  that 
his  canoes  could,  without  interruption  of  fall  or  rapid, 
pass  down  the  Illinois  River  to  the  Mississippi,  and  that 
the  tribes  on  its  banks  were  friendly  and  hospitable.  He 
deputed  one  of  his  men,  Accault,  accompanied  by  Father 
Hennepin  as  chaplain,  to  explore  the  river  down  to  its 
junction  with  the  Mississippi ;  he  himself  would  return 
to  Montreal  to  stay  his  falling  fortunes  and  procure  fresh 
supplies,  and  Tonty  would  take  command  at  Fort  Creve- 
coeur. On  February  29,  1680,  Hennepin  started  with 
two  companions  and  on  March  2  La  Salle  with  four 
Frenchmen  and  a  Mohegan  Indian,  who  had  been  faith- 
ful in  all  vicissitudes,  set  his  face  eastward. 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  explorations  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  officers,  and  the  long  journeys 
they  were,  and  are,  accustomed  to  make  on  snowshoes 
in  the  conduct  of  their  ordinary  business,  it  will  not  be 
surprising  that  La  Salle  set  out  to  go  on  foot  from  Lake 
Peoria  in  northern  Illinois  to  Kingston  at  the  outlet  of 
Lake  Ontario.  The  difficulty  of  La  Salle's  journey  was 
not  the  length  of  the  way,  nor  the  snow ;  it  was  that  the 
winter  was  breaking  up,  the  ice  was  rotten,  the  snow  was 
melting,  the  spring  rains  were  commencing,  the  morasses 
were  treacherous,  and,  above  all,  the  route  lay  through 
a  region  infested  by  war  parties  of  implacable  Iroquois. 
Travelling  is  scarcely  possible  under  such  conditions, 
and  if  La  Salle's  resolution  ever  failed  him,  it  might  well 
have  failed  when  he  bade  farewell  to  the  staunch  De 
Tonty  in  his  isolated  post.  They  tried  in  vain  to  work 
their  canoes  up  the  Illinois  against  the  drifting  ice,  and 
were  compelled  to  abandon  them  and  make  their  way 


36o    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

across  the  streams  and  marshes  of  the  sodden  prairie 
round  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan  to  the  fort  at  St. 
Joseph,  where  La  Salle  found  two  of  his  men.  Thence 
he  struck  across  the  south  of  Michigan  to  the  Detroit 
River.  Crossing  it  on  a  raft,  he  pushed  on  across  the 
country  to  Lake  Erie,  where  he  made  a  canoe  in  which  he 
reached  the  fort  at  Niagara,  where  his  worst  forebodings 
of  the  loss  of  the  Griffon  were  confirmed,  and  to  crown 
his  misfortunes  he  learned  of  the  wreck,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  of  a  vessel  from  France  laden  with 
supplies  for  his  enterprise.  He  was  the  only  one  of  the 
party  in  health,  and,  leaving  his  sick  companions,  he 
took  two  fresh  men  and  reached  Fort  Frontenac,  on  May 
6,  from  whence  he  pushed  on  to  Montreal. 

While  he  was  procuring  fresh  supplies  at  Montreal  his 
men  in  the  West,  not  expecting  his  return,  were  deserting 
to  the  Indians,  plundering  his  stores  of  furs  and  wreck- 
ing his  forts.  Tonty's  garrison  had  been  fifteen  men, 
but  during  a  short  absence  most  of  them  deserted,  and 
having  only  three  left  besides  the  two  Recollets,  he 
decided  to  go  to  live  in  the  great  Illinois  village.  Mean- 
while the  indomitable  La  Salle,  with  fresh  supplies  and 
fresh  men,  started  from  Fort  Frontenac  on  August  lo 
to  rebuild  his  shattered  enterprises.  Passing  by  way  of 
TcM-onto,  Lake  Simcoe,  and  Georgian  Bay,  he  reached 
Michilimackinac  and  hastened  on  to  St.  Joseph,  where  he 
found  the  fort  plundered  and  wrecked  by  deserters  from 
his  own  garrison.  Crossing  the  portage  and  paddling 
down  the  river  he  found  to  his  dismay  that  the  Iroquois 
had  swept  over  the  country,  and  the  ghastly  evidences  of 
their  cruelty  were  everywhere  visible.  The  Illinois 
tribes  had  disappeared,  their  great  town  had  been  burned, 
and  mutilated  bodies  were  scattered  around.  Fort 
Crevecoeur  was  abandoned  and  no  written  sign  left  to 
tell  of  De  Tonty's  fate.  La  Salle  searched  among  the 
dead  bodies  with  painful  scrutiny,  but  no  trace  of  the 
Frenchmen  could  be  found.  The  skulls  scattered  round 
were  not  French,  for  the  scanty  hair  which  the  Iroquois 
and  the  wolves  had  left  was  the  long  coarse  hair  of  In- 


JOLLIET  AND   LA  SALLE        361 

dians.  Leaving  a  small  guard  for  the  baggage,  La  Salle, 
with  four  men,  proceeded  down  the  river,  and  as  he  went 
on  the  circumstances  of  the  catastrophe  began  to  be  un- 
ravelled. The  Illinois  had  retreated  in  a  body,  followed 
on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river  by  the  Iroquois.  La 
Salle  searched  the  opposing  camps  and  examined  the 
remains  of  every  victim  at  the  stakes  for  traces  of  the 
Frenchmen,  but  in  vain.  At  last  he  reached  the  Miss- 
issippi, seven  years  after  Jolliet  and  Marquette;  and 
although  his  men  offered  to  follow  him  down  the  river 
he  was  compelled  to  return  by  the  exigency  of  his  affairs, 
for  this  new  calamity  wrecked  his  whole  enterprise.  The 
steadfast  mind  of  La  Salle,  however,  was  unshaken. 
The  winter  was  approaching  and  he  turned  back  to  the 
St.  Joseph  River.  A  happy  chance  led  him  to  take  the 
northern  fork  of  the  Illinois,  the  Des  Plaines  River,  and 
on  the  Chicago  portage  the  quick  eyes  of  the  woodsmen 
detected  a  faint  but  indubitable  trace  of  the  passage  of  De 
Tonty's  men.  La  Salle,  undismayed  by  misfortune,  spent 
the  winter  on  the  St.  Joseph  River  in  organising  the 
scattered  tribes  against  a  repetition  of  Iroquois  invasion. 
The  deadly  wars  had  broken  up  the  nations.  There  were 
bands  of  Abenaquis  and  Mohicans — strangers  from  the 
Atlantic,  Shawnees  from  the  Ohio,  Miamis  of  the  locality, 
and  Illinois  returning  from  beyond  the  Mississippi  to 
their  ruined  towns.  Then,  in  May,  1681,  he  once  more 
turned  his  face  eastwards  to  seek  the  means  to  renew 
once  more  his  shattered  fortunes.  On  the  way,  at 
Michilimackinac,  he  met  De  Tonty  and  with  renewed 
hopes  they  started  for  Montreal.  Once  more  Frontenac's 
influence  availed  on  his  behalf,  and  his  wealthy  rela- 
tives lent  their  aid,  and,  although  powerful  interests  in  the 
colony  were  opposed  to  his  undertaking  and  had  even 
instigated  the  bloody  ravages  of  the  Iroquois,  his  resolu- 
tion triumphed  over  every  obstacle ;  and,  as  the  autumn 
began  to  colour  the  foliage,  he  was  once  more  at  the  To- 
ronto portage  with  a  well-equipped  party  on  his  way  to 
Fort  Miami  on  the  St.  Joseph  River. 

Success  at  last  was  near.     Frost  had  rendered  the  nar- 


362    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASINi 

row  stream  of  the  upper  Kankakee  unavailable,  for  it 
was  December  21,  1681,  when  they  started  from  St. 
Joseph.  The  still  open  lake  enabled  them  to  use  canoes 
as  far  as  the  Chicago  portage,  and  as  they  had  to  carry 
their  canoes  over  the  snow  on  sledges  the  portages  on 
the  Des  Plaines  made  no  delay.  At  Lake  Peoria  they 
put  their  canoes  into  open  water,  and  on  February  6, 
1682,  they  dipped  their  paddles  into  the  "  great  water  " — 
the  Mississippi.  The  remainder  of  the  story  and  the 
tragic  death  of  the  explorers  do  not  belong  to  the  history 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley,  nor  does  the  scope  of  this 
volume  include  the  romantic  story  of  the  Rock  of  St. 
Louis  of  the  Illinois,  and  of  De  Tonty's  heroic  devotion 
to  his  leader  and  friend.  La  Salle  continued  down  the 
Mississippi  to  the  sea.  His  party  divided  and  followed 
the  three  great  branches  of  its  delta,  and  La  Salle 
issued  out  upon  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  On  April  9,  1682, 
a  pillar  was  erected  bearing  the  arms  of  Louis  XIV.  and 
possession  was  taken  of  the  region  with  the  usual  formal- 
ities. The  great  problem  was  solved,  the  task  was 
achieved,  and  from  the  chilly  shadows  of  the  cliffs  of 
the  Saguenay  to  the  steaming  lagoons  of  the  delta  of 
the  Mississippi  the  whole  magnificent  avenue  of  waters 
passed  into  the  possession  of  France. 


CHAPTER    XXI 

WESTERN     EXPLORATION     OF    THE     ST.     LAWRENCE     BASIN 
COMPLETED HENNEPIN     AND    DULHUT 

THE  northeastern  part  of  the  State  of  Minne- 
sota must  be  attentively  studied  by  those  who 
seek  to  understand  the  ground  plan  of  the 
North  American  continent  east  of  the  basin  of 
the  Mackenzie  River  and  the  ranges  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. It  is  a  plain,  nowhere  more  than  fifteen  hundred 
feet  above  the  sea,  studded  with  lakes  innumerable,  con- 
nected with  each  other  by  a  mesh  of  streams  of  all 
grades  of  magnitude,  which  are  fed  by  coimtless  marshes 
from  whose  spongy  recesses  issue  forth  the  infant  springs 
of  great  rivers.  There,  within  the  area  of  a  few  square 
miles,  separated  b}^  insensible  inequalities  of  ground,  flow 
and  interflow  the  tiny  rivulets  which,  as  mighty  floods, 
issue  out  on  the  north  into  Hudson's  Bay,  on  the  east  into 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  on  the  south  into  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  A  mazy  region  where  in  a  bark  canoe,  if 
he  knows  the  country,  a  man  may  go  anywhere ;  and  if  he 
does  not  know  it  he  will  be  forthwith  hopelessly  lost. 
Indian  reservations  still  cover  much  of  the  region,  for  it 
is  unsuitable  for  settlement  or  cultivation.  In  the  south- 
east corner  of  the  White  Earth  Indian  Reserve  are  the 
springs  of  the  Mississippi,  and  close  to  them  the  brooks 
which  lead  into  the  Red  River  oi  the  North  take  their 
rise.  The  main  stream  of  the  Red  River  flows  from 
Lake  Traverse  south  of  the  source  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  Minnesota  River  has  its  source  differing  only  eight 
feet  in  level  in  Bigstone  Lake  adjoining.  On  the  east, 
not  far  off,  the  St.  Louis  River,  the  ultimate  source  of 
the   St.  Lawrence   system,  takes  its  rise — separated   by 

363 


364    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

an  obscure  water-parting-  and  falling-  to  Lake  Superior 
at  Fond  du  Lac.  South  of  that  lake  large  affluents  of 
the  Mississippi  reach  up  close  to  its  shores,  spreading 
out  fanlike  into  small  streams,  sufficient  in  a  region  where 
drought  is  unknown,  to  float  a  canoe. 

The  St.  Croix  draws  its  water  thus  from  the  region 
near  Fond  du  Lac,  the  Chippewa  reaches  close  to  Che- 
quamegon  Bay,  near  Ashland,  and  the  Flambeau  River, 
one  of  its  affluents,  rises  very  near  the  head  of  the  Mont- 
real River,  all  three  drain  their  waters  into  the  great  river 
of  the  West. 

This  region  must  not  be  supposed  destitute  of  food 
resources.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  the  Great  Lakes 
were  then,  as  they  are  still,  the  source  of  most  productive 
fisheries,  the  streams  were  full  of  fish,  and,  moreover,  the 
whole  network  of  streams,  marshes,  and  lakes  were  the 
reedy  water-fields  where  the  wild  rice,  sicania  aquatica, 
chiefly  delights  to  grow  and  the  wild  fowl  delight  to  feed. 
The  plant  is  known  by  many  names.  The  French  called 
it  Folle  Avoine  or  ris  du  Canada;  the  English,  among 
many  other  names,  wild  oats,  wild  rice,  Indian  rice, 
Canadian  rice ;  the  Indians  used  some  derivative  of  the 
Algonquin  word  Mandmin,  signifying  "  good  berry." 
The  region  most  abounding  in  this  valuable  article  of 
food  extended  across  Wisconsin  to  Lake  Michigan,  and 
the  rivers  and  lakes  between  Green  Bay  and  Lake  Su- 
perior were  covered  with  this  graceful  reedlike  plant. 
It  is  an  annual,  self-sown  from  the  ripe  grain  shed  into 
the  water  of  a  sluggish  or  gently  flowing  stream  and 
falling  upon  a  muddy  bottom.  It  grows  abundantly  any- 
where in  Canada  or  the  Northwest  where  the  conditions 
are  favourable.  Mrs.  Traill,  a  writer  resident  near  Rice 
Lake,  not  far  from  Peterborough  in  Ontario,  describes 
the  rice  beds  as  looking  in  the  distance  like  green  islands. 
She  thus  writes  of  their  appearance  in  June :  "  Passing 
through  one  of  these  rice  beds,  where  the  rice  is  in 
flower,  it  has  a  beautiful  appearance,  with  its  broad 
grassy  leaves  and  light  waving  spikes  garnished  with 
pale  yellow-green  blossoms  delicately  shaded  with  red- 


HENNEPIN   AND   DULHUT     365 

dish  purple,  from  beneath  which  fall  three  straw-coloured 
anthers,  which  move  with  every  breath  of  air  or  slightest 
motion  of  the  water." 

The  Indians  were  not  touched  by  such  sesthetical  con- 
siderations, and  to  them  the  possession  of  these  rice  fields 
was  an  economical  question  of  prime  importance,  and  on 
that  account  the  Sioux  (or  Dakotas)  contended  inces- 
santly with  the  O  jib  ways  and  Menomonees.  The  last- 
named  people  are  the  Folks  Avoincs  of  the  French  narra- 
tives, and  their  river,  still  called  the  Menominee,  reaches 
far  into  the  rice-producing  region.  As  a  food  the  wild 
rice  is  fully  as  nourishing  as  maize,  or  wheat,  or  any 
other  of  our  cereals.  It  is  collected  by  the  women,  who 
pole  their  bark  canoes  into  the  rice  fields  when  the  grain 
is  ripe,  and  reaching  out  draw  over  the  heads,  on  both 
sides,  and  beat  out  the  grain  into  the  canoe.  It  was  the 
explorations  of  Nicollet,  Radisson,  Jolliet,  Marquette, 
Allouez,  and  Perrot  on  the  borders  of  this  region  which 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  French  the  rice  fields 
and  the  populous  tribes  dependent  upon  them  for  a  large 
part  of  their  food  supply.  The  region  extended  over  the 
divide  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi  waters, 
and  was  the  scene  of  the  captivity  of  Hennepin  and  the 
enterprise  of  Dulhut. 

We  have  seen  that  at  the  end  of  February,  1680, 
Father  Hennepin  started  with  two  companions  in  a  bark 
canoe  from  Fort  Crevecoeur  to  explore  the  Illinois  River 
to  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi.  He  also  had  instruc- 
tions, after  reaching  the  great  river,  to  explore  its  upper 
course.  This  he  did,  and  in  his  first  book  he  claims  no 
more ;  but  in  his  second  book,  published  in  1698,  he  lays 
claim  to  the  discovery  and  exploration  of  the  Mississippi 
southwards  to  the  sea,  giving  several  palpably  false  rea- 
sons for  having  suppressed  his  claim  until  after  La  Salle's 
death.  It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  the  character  of 
this  vain  and  mendacious  friar.  His  frauds  have  been 
sufficiently  exposed.  Not  only  did  he  claim  to  have  pre- 
ceded La  Salle  in  exploring  the  river  to  the  sea,  but  he 
asserts  that  Jolliet  had  not  been  upon  the  river  at  all, 


366    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

and  had  merely  contented  himself  with  remaining  and 
trading  among  the  Ottawas  and  Hurons.  He  represents 
Jolliet  as  having  admitted  this  to  him  upon  frequent 
canoe  voyages  they  had  made  together — all  of  which  is 
not  only  palpably  false,  but  is  glossed  over  with  a  dis- 
agreeable religiosity.  Hennepin's  discoveries  extend 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  River  to  the  Falls  of 
St.  Anthony,  or,  in  more  familiar  terms,  from  Prairie 
du  Chien  to  Minneapolis — and  no  farther.  The  expedi- 
tion was  really  under  the  command  of  Accault,  one  of 
his  two  companions,  although  throughout  the  narrative 
Hennepin  represents  himself  as  having  been  the  leader. 

The  voyage  down  the  Illinois  River  was  made  without 
any  incident  of  note.  The  current  was  gentle  and  the 
stream  was  deep.  It  flowed  between  low  banks  through 
a  prairie  country,  where  large  herds  of  buffalo  were  seen 
feeding.  On  arriving  at  the  Mississippi  they  found  the 
ice  still  coming  down,  and  were  delayed  until  March  12, 
although  in  another  place  he  stretches  the  time  out  four 
days  more. 

With  unblushing  effrontery  Hennepin,  in  his  second 
book,  asserts  that  before  going  north  he  turned  south- 
wards and  went  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  From 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  it  is  a  distance  of  1293  miles 
to  New  Orleans,  to  which  must  be  added  the  distance 
to  the  sea,  which,  although  less  then  than  it  is  now, 
could  not  have  been  less  than  75  miles.  To  do  this 
he  must  have  paddled  at  the  rate  of  over  one  hundred 
miles  a  day,  and  without  stopping  to  sleep  or  eat.  He 
states  that  he  came  to  where  the  river  forms  a  delta,  and 
that  he  passed  down  the  centre  channel  to  a  point  where 
the  water  was  completely  salt,  and  that,  passing  further 
on,  he  reached  the  sea  and  finally  landed  on  the  east  side 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  This  point  he  attained  on 
March  25.  Then  the  details  are  added  of  the  formal 
possession  taken.  The  two  men  are  represented  as 
anxious  to  get  back;  they  wanted  to  trade  with  the  In- 
dians, and  were  in  terror  of  the  Spaniards.  He  had  not 
much  time,  but  a  cross  was  erected  and  Hennepin  and 


HENNEPIN   AND   DULHUT     367 

his  two  companions  kneeled  and  sang  hymns  proper  to 
the  occasion,  such  as  the  Vexilla  regis.  On  April  i  they 
began  their  return  voyage,  and  were  captured  by  the 
Sioux,  above  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  on  April  12. 
The  distance  is  1861  miles,  so  that  in  ascending  the  cur- 
rent they  made  about  155  miles  a  day — much  better  time 
than  in  going  down,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  delay  they 
made  to  repair  their  canoes  and  the  precaution  of  trav- 
elling only  by  night  as  they  neared  the  mouth  of  the 
Illinois  for  fear  of  being  arrested  by  the  garrison  of 
Fort  Crevecoeur.  The  description  of  the  country  and 
the  details  of  the  voyage  are  stolen  from  Father  Mem- 
bre's  narrative  of  La  Salle's  discovery  two  years  after, 
but  Hennepin  found  it  impossible  to  fit  in  the  new  piece, 
and  his  dates  are  therefore  hopelessly  muddled.  Thus 
he  says  that  when  on  the  lower  Mississippi  near  the  sea, 
not  having  any  wine  he  was  unable  to  celebrate  mass  on 
March  2^,,  Easter  Day;  but  Easter  Day  fell  on  April  21 
in  that  year,  and,  moreover,  in  his  first  narrative  he 
reports  having  spent  Easter  at  the  Issati  village,  on  Mille 
Lacs,  at  the  head  of  an  affluent  of  the  Mississippi  near 
Lake  Superior.  The  dates  of  the  pretended  voyage  are 
not  only  inconsistent  with  those  of  the  first  narrative, 
but  in  the  second  narrative  itself  are  inconsistent  with 
each  other.  This  incident  of  Easter  is  cited  because  no 
Catholic  priest  could  have  been  mistaken  about  that  date. 
The  story  is  a  plain  falsehood.  Father  Membre  cele- 
brated the  first  mass  on  the  lower  Mississippi  with  La 
Salle  in  1682,  and  Easter  fell,  as  he  records  it,  on  March 
29  of  that  year.  Hennepin,  in  concocting  his  fictitious 
voyage,  omitted  to  consult  the  calendar. 

It  will  be  a  waste  of  time  to  follow  in  detail  this  tissue 
of  falsehood.  The  first  narrative,  published  at  Paris  in 
1684,  contains  no  allusion  to  the  apocryphal  trip  to  the 
sea — indeed,  it  plainly  says  that  he  did  not  go  there, 
although  he  thought  of  doing  so.  He  was,  however, 
beyond  doubt  upon  the  upper  Mississippi,  and  his  narra- 
tive does  contain  many  facts  confirmed  from  other 
sources.     In  a  general  description  of  the  upper  river, 


368    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

with  which  he  introduces  the  story  of  his  capture,  while 
noting  the  streams  now  known  as  the  Iowa  and  Minne- 
sota,, he  observes  that  the  tributaries  from  the  east  are 
more  numerous  than  from  the  west.  He  indicates  the 
Rock  River  and  the  Wisconsin  leading  to  the  portage  to 
Green  Bay,  the  Black  River,  and  the  Chippeway  River. 
He  mentions  a  river  full  of  rapids  (the  St.  Croix),  by 
which  there  is  a  route  to  Lake  Superior.  He  describes 
St.  Anthony's  Falls,  at  the  present  Minneapolis,  named 
for  St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  "  in  gratitude,"  he  adds,  "  for 
the  favours  done  me  by  the  Almighty  through  the  inter- 
cession of  that  great  saint."  Eight  leagues  beyond  was 
the  Issati  (or  Nadoussion)  River,  leading  to  Lake  Issati, 
or  Buade  (Mille  Lacs).  This  last  river  he  called  after 
St.  Francis,  a  name  which  has  been  displaced  by  the 
vulgar  appellation  of  Rum  River.  This  is  the  extent  of 
Hennepin's  discoveries,  for  from  the  Wisconsin  to  the 
Illinois  had  been  explored  by  Jolliet  and  Marquette.  Re- 
turning now  to  the  real  voyage  and  adventures  of  Father 
Hennepin,  the  Frenchmen  had  issued  out  upon  the  Miss- 
issippi and  had  reached  about  as  far  north  as  the  Wis- 
consin River,  when,  on  April  ii,  they  were  suddenly 
surrounded  and  captured  by  a  war  party  of  a  hundred 
and  twenty  Sioux  on  the  way  to  attack  the  Miamis.  The 
Indians  refused  the  proffered  peace  pipe  and  carried 
them  up  the  river.  After  the  first  excitement  was  over 
the  prisoners  were  not  in  danger  of  their  lives,  for  the 
western  Indians  were  not  bloodthirsty,  like  the  Iroquois. 
That  they  were  treated  without  any  studied  cruelty  ap- 
pears through  Hennepin's  exaggerated  narrative.  They 
were  robbed  of  their  goods,  but  they  had  the  same  food 
the  Indians  had.  They  were,  no  doubt,  in  great  fear  at 
first,  for  the  Miamis  had  escaped  and  some  of  the  Sioux 
who  had  lost  relations  were  anxious  to  kill  them.  At 
Lake  Pepin  these  homicidal  feelings  sought  expression 
by  weeping  over  the  prisoners,  a  proceeding  which  will 
shock  any  notions  of  Indians  derived  from  "  Gertrude  of 
Wyoming,"  or  Cooper's  novels. 

"The  stoic  of  the  woods — the  man  without  a  tear," 


HENNEPIN   AND   DULHUT     369 

wept  and  howled  all  night  with  many  companions  in 
distress,  and  in  memory  of  that  impressive  ceremony 
Hennepin  called  the  place  the  Lake  of  Tears  (Lac  des 
Pleurs).  On  other  occasions  when  the  Indians  were 
overcome  by  the  remembrance  of  their  departed  friends, 
Hennepin  wiped  away  their  tears  "  with  a  wretched  hand- 
kerchief he  had  left  "  and  sought  to  assuage  their  grief 
by  giving  them  presents.  The  leading  chiefs  always 
intervened  when  matters  seemed  serious,  but  the  relations 
between  the  prisoners  and  these  bereaved  Sioux  were  for 
a  long  time  strained.  If  this  curious  custom  rested  on 
Hennepin's  evidence  alone  it  would  not  be  believed,  but 
the  same  peculiarity  has  been  recorded  by  other  early 
writers,  and  Henry  met  with  it  at  the  Lake  of  the  Woods 
among  the  Assiniboincs,  a  Siouan  people.  At  a  council 
"  several  of  the  Indians  began  to  weep  and  they  were  soon 
joined  by  the  whole  party."  He  adds:  "Had  I  not 
previously  been  witness  to  a  weeping  scene  of  this 
description,  I  should  certainly  have  been  apprehensive  of 
some  disastrous  catastrophe."  The  fur  trader's  nerves 
were  steadier  than  the  friar's.  Henry  inquired  of  the 
people  why  they  always  wept  at  their  feasts,  and  was 
informed  that  such  occasions  brought  back  the  memory 
of  departed  friends  who  had  formerly  been  present  at 
them  and  reminded  them  of  the  brevity  of  their  own 
lives. 

The  party  went  steadily  up  the  river,  and  when  near 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  held  a  council  to  decide  upon 
the  fate  of  the  Frenchmen.  It  resulted  in  their  being 
adopted  into  different  families.  Hennepin  was  taken  to 
the  chief  town  of  the  tribe  on  the  shores  of  Mille  Lacs, 
and  although  he  makes  much  moan  over  his  hardships 
he  was  evidently  treated  by  the  Sioux  as  one  of  them- 
selves. It  was  painful  for  him  to  see  his  embroidered 
chasuble  paraded  through  the  town  on  the  shoulders  of 
a  naked  Indian  boy,  but  he  was  allowed  to  go  about 
freely,  explaining  Christian  doctrine  in  such  scraps  of 
Dakota  as  he  could  command.  During  his  detention  at 
Mille  Lacs  an  embassy  arrived  from  a  distant  western 


370    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

tribe,  and  Hennepin  concluded  from  what  they  told 
him  that  there  was  no  Strait  of  Anian,  as  laid  down  on 
the  maps  of  the  time,  and  that  the  land  was  continuous 
from  Louisiana  to  China.  He  seems  to  have  gathered 
from  the  same  source  information  which  led  him  to 
believe  that  large  vessels  might  pass  down  by  the  rivers 
of  the  West  into  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  go  to  Japan  and 
China  without  crossing  the  equator.  In  the  interchange 
of  presents  with  the  deputies  the  friar's  chasuble  was 
utilised  and  the  western  Sioux  carried  it  off  to  the  plains 
of  the  Missouri. 

The  Indians  started  in  July,  1680,  for  their  summer 
hunt  and  the  French  went  with  them.  Hennepin's 
companions  do  not  seem  to  have  had  much  respect  for 
him,  for  they  would  not  have  him  in  their  canoe,  saying 
they  had  had  enough  of  him.  Accault  preferred  to  stay 
among  these  good-natured  savages,  but  Hennepin's 
imagination  did  not  fail.  He  gave  out  that  La  Salle  had 
promised  to  meet  him  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  and 
he  started  thither  with  the  other  Frenchmen.  Some 
Indians  went  also  to  meet  these  "  spirits,"  as  they  called 
the  white  men.  There  were,  of  course,  no  Frenchmen 
found  there ;  but,  while  the  Indians  were  hunting  and 
moving  up  and  down  the  river  as  the  buffalo  appeared, 
word  came  to  the  camp  that  a  party  of  Indians  who  had 
been  hunting  towards  the  end  of  Lake  Superior  had  met 
some  "  spirits,"  who  were  interested  in  hearing  that  there 
were  white  people  among  the  Indians,  and  before  long 
the  Sieur  Dulhut,  with  two  Frenchmen,  an  Indian  inter- 
preter, and  a  Sioux  guide,  arrived  at  the  camp.  Hennepin 
was  at  once  relieved  from  his  disagreeable  position,  for 
Dulhut  assumed  a  lofty  tone  and  reproached  the  Indians 
with  robbing  and  ill-treating  "  his  brother." 

He  had  come  down  over  the  portage  to  the  St.  Croix 
River  from  Lake  Superior,  where  he  had  established  a 
trading  post.  Dulhut's  boldness  and  influence  with  these 
wild  people  is  accounted  for  by  his  efforts  among  them  at 
a  great  council  on  Lake  Superior.  He  had  been  at  the 
Indian  town  at  Mille  Lacs  the  previous  year,  1679,  and 


HENNEPIN   AND   DULHUT     371 

had  planted  there  the  arms  of  France.  He  did  not  come 
as  a  stranger;  but  with  characteristic  effrontery  Hen- 
nepin, in  his  narrative,  at  once  assumes  the  conduct  of 
the  whole  party.  He  represents  that  as  he  had  some 
knowledge  of  the  language  Dulhut  begged  that  he  would 
accompany  him  to  the  villages  of  the  Sioux — "to  which," 
adds  the  friar,  "  I  readily  agreed,  knowing  that  these 
Frenchmen  had  not  approached  the  sacraments  for  two 
years."  After  this  there  is  no  word  of  Dulhut,  nor  is  the 
least  gratitude  expressed  for  his  rescue.  Dulhut,  a  captain 
of  the  King's  troops  and  the  most  capable  partisan  leader 
in  the  West,  is  effaced,  and  with  the  pronouns  "  I "  and 
"  we  "  the  boastful  friar  substitutes  himself.  Dulhut  deter- 
mined to  return  by  Jolliet  and  Marquette's  route  up  the 
Wisconsin,  and  Hennepin  and  his  companions  went  with 
him.  As  Hennepin  relates  it,  the  season  wore  on  and 
"  ive  resolved  to  tell  these  people  that,  for  their  bene- 
fit, zve  would  have  to  return  to  the  French  settlements ; 
the  grand  chief  of  the  Issati  or  Nadouessieuz  [Sioux] 
consented  and  traced,  in  pencil  on  a  paper  /  gave  him, 
the  route  we  should  take  for  four  hundred  leagues. 
With  this  we  set  out,  eight  Frenchmen  in  two  canoes." 
They  returned  by  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox  rivers  to  Green 
Bay.  The  Jesuits  had  three  missions  there,  but  Hen- 
nepin, without  mention  of  them,  says  mass  and  all  the 
Frenchmen  go  to  confession  and  communion.  From 
Green  Bay  he  went  to  Michilimackinac,  and  although  he 
stayed  there  all  winter  at  the  mission  of  St.  Ignace  he 
utterly  ignores  the  Jesuits  and  their  missions.  He 
reports  that  he  preached  every  holy-day  and  on  the  Sun- 
days of  Advent,  but  says  nothing  of  the  mission  church. 
He  states  that  he  found  forty-two  French  traders  there 
and  that  they  begged  him  to  give  them  the  cord  of  St. 
Francis,  which  he  did,  making  a  suitable  exhortation  to 
each  recipient.  In  his  second  book  he  admits  having 
met  Father  Pierson  at  Michilimackinac,  who,  he  says, 
had  gone  there  to  learn  the  language.  There  is  not  one 
word  to  indicate  that  Christian  missionaries  had  ever 
been  in  that  country.     He  left  Canada  shortly  after  the 


372    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

completion  of  his  western  voyage  and  never  returned. 
A  monastic  Munchausen,  devoid  of  the  saving  grace  of 
humour,  he  fell  into  disgrace  in  France  and  was  dis- 
frocked. His  books  were,  however,  translated  into  many 
European  languages  and  were  widely  read  and  believed 
until  of  late  years,  when  Jared  Sparks  exposed  the  fraud. 

Daniel  de  Greysolon,  Sieur  du  L'hut,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  his  adventurous  career  completed  the  circuit  of 
exploration  of  the  St.  Lawrence  basin  in  the  Northwest. 
His  name  is  spelled  in  as  many  ways  as  Shakespeare's. 
The  name  of  the  prosperous  city  at  the  head  of  Lake 
Superior  is  spelled  Duluth,  but  the  explorer  generally 
spelled  his  name  "  Dulhut,"  and  we  shall  not  go  far 
astray  in  following  his  example.  He  was  of  a  noble 
family,  as  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  he  was  a  gendarme 
of  the  King's  Guard,  but  having  connections  in  Canada 
he  decided  to  seek  his  fortune  there  and  procured  a  com- 
mission as  captain  in  the  troops  of  marine.  His  brother- 
in-law  was  De  Lussigny,  an  officer  of  Frontenac's  guard, 
and  his  cousin  was  La  Salle's  lieutenant,  Henri  de  Tonty. 
He  was  in  Canada  in  1674,  and  having  occasion  to  go 
back  to  France  he  arrived  there  in  time  to  serve  in  his 
old  regiment  as  esquire  to  the  Marquis  de  Lassay  and  to 
take  part  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Seneff,  on  August  11, 
1674. 

He  returned  to  Canada  shortly  after  and  settled  in 
Montreal,  and  set  up  what  for  those  days  was  a  hand- 
some establishment,  where  also  resided  with  him  his 
younger  brother,  Claude  Greysolon  de  la  Tourette.  He 
had  long  meditated  a  design  to  visit  the  country  of  the 
Sioux  on  the  upper  Mississippi  and  endeavour  to  arrange 
a  peace  which  would  open  up  to  trade  all  the  region  con- 
tiguous to  Lake  Superior.  In  the  autumn  of  1678  he 
sold  all  his  property  in  Montreal,  and  with  his  brother  and 
three  Indian  guides  left  for  the  far  Northwest.  It  was  the 
commencement  of  a  career  of  adventure.  He  went  to 
the  southwest  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  across  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  Mississippi,  and  down  one  of  the  streams, 
probably  the  St.  Croix,  until  he  reached  the  chief  village 


HENNEPIN   AND   DULHUT     373 

of  the  Issati  or  Sioux.  There  on  July  2,  1679,  ^le  planted 
the  arms  of  France.  That  was  a  year  before  Hennepin's 
capture,  and  yet  the  friar  records  that  Dulhut  solicited 
him  to  act  as  guide  thither.  Other  towns  of  the  Sioux 
were  also  visited,  and  Dulhut  gathered  in  September  of  the 
same  year  a  great  council  at  Fond  du  Lac,  the  extreme 
western  end  of  Lake  Superior.  The  Sioux  from  the 
upper  Mississippi,  the  Assiniboines  from  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods,  and  the  Crees  from  Lake  Nipigon  were  repre- 
sented there  and  a  peace  was  arranged.  The  following 
year,  while  exploring  a  river  which  led  to  the  Mississippi, 
he  heard  of  Hennepin's  ignominious  captivity  and 
hastened  to  rescue  him,  taking  with  him  an  interpreter — 
although  Hennepin  reports  that  Dulhut  solicited  him  to 
act  as  interpreter. 

To  follow  the  adventures  of  Dulhut  during  the  thirty 
years  of  his  stirring  life  among  the  western  Indians  is 
beyond  the  scope  of  this  volume.  While  it  is  true  that 
Chouart  and  Radisson  had  already  been  in  these  regions, 
their  stay  was  short  and  their  observations  imperfect. 
The  Jesuits  Allouez  and  Dablon  had  established  missions 
on  the  southern  shore  of  the  lake,  Marquette  and  Jolliet 
had  reached  the  Mississippi  from  Lake  Michigan,  but 
Dulhut  lived  there  and  knew  thoroughly  all  the  region  on 
the  divide  between  the  great  lake  and  the  great  river, 
where  no  white  man  had  previously  been.  He  established 
his  main  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  River  Kaministiquia — 
the  chief  portage,  in  after  years,  of  the  Northwest  and 
Hudson's  Bay  companies  and  the  site  of  the  present  town 
of  Fort  William.  From  thence  he  explored  and  traded, 
not  only  into  the  basin  of  the  Mississippi,  but  with  the 
Assiniboines  around  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  and  into  the 
basin  of  the  Winnipeg.  On  the  north  he  had  a  post  on 
Lake  Nipigon,  called  La  Tourette,  after  his  brother,  and 
from  thence  he  traded  with  the  Crees  over  the  divide  into 
the  Hudson's  Bay  basin.  He  acquired  immense  influence 
among  the  Indian  nations  of  the  West,  and  more  than 
once  brought  large  contingents  to  the  assistance  of  the 
governors  of  New  France.     The  great  Dakota  nation 


374    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

had  indeed  been  known  before  his  estabUshment  on  the 
lake,  but  tljey  had  not  previously  been  visited  at  their 
homes.  He  was  a  friend  of  Frontenac  and  therefore  was 
hated  by  the  intendant,  Duchesneau,  who  stigmatised  him 
falsely  as  a  conreur  de  hois  (bush  ranger)  and  a  law- 
less infringer  of  the  royal  ordinances.  He,  at  the  request 
of  the  Governor,  Denonville,  built  in  1686  the  first  fort  at 
Detroit  and  occupied  it  with  fifty  men  of  his  own  follow- 
ing. One  daring  feat  has  been  specially  recorded.  In 
1684  two  Frenchmen  were  murdered,  and  he  knew  that 
the  safety  of  the  whites  on  Lake  Superior  depended  on 
the  punishment  of  the  murderers.  He  arrested  them 
in  the  midst  of  their  people,  tried  them  fairly,  and  shot 
two  of  them  in  the  presence  of  five  hundred  savages.  His 
own  followers  were  a  handful  among  these  populous 
tribes,  but  his  procedure  was  as  bold  and  unhesitating  as 
that  of  a  patrol  of  mounted  police  at  the  present  day. 

He  was  the  first  to  strike  a  return  blow  after  the  great 
massacre  by  the  Iroquois  on  the  Island  of  Montreal,  and 
in  1695  h^  was  in  command  at  Fort  Frontenac.  A  chiv- 
alrous, fearless,  and  tactful  leader,  he  swayed  the  tribes 
of  the  Northwest  and  made  the  name  of  France  respected 
on  the  divide  around  the  lakes  and  over  into  the  adjoining 
river  basins.  He  died  at  Montreal  in  1710  with  the  repu- 
tation of  being  the  bravest  officer  who  had  ever  served 
the  King  in  New  France. 

1  With  Dulhut  closed  the  roll  of  daring  and  capable  men 
who  won  for  France  the  St.  Lawrence  valley  to  its 
utmost  bounds.  Churchmen  and  soldiers  each  in  his 
own  path  fought  and  suffered  and  conquered — a  brilliant 
and  heroic  band  of  whom  any  nation  might  be  proud. 
They  carried  their  lives  ever  in  their  hands  and  their 
daring  was  their  safety.  Their  careers  were  crowded 
with  picturesque  adventure,  and  might  have  been  the 
theme  of  novelist  and  poet  were  it  not  that  the  truth  is 
stranger  than  fiction  and  there  is  nothing  which  imagi- 
nation could  add  or  improve. 


CHAPTER    XXII 

EXPLORATION  TO  THE   NORTH   AND  EAST THE  CIRCUIT  OF 

THE    VALLEY    COMPLETED 


THE  great  inland  ocean  of  Hudson's  Bay  drains 
an  area  of  three  millions  of  square  miles.  Its 
basin  not  only  bounds  the  St.  Lawrence  valley 
in  its  whole  length  on  the  north,  but,  outflank- 
ing it  on  the  west,  extends  southwards  and  interlocks 
the  head-waters  of  its  rivers  with  the  sources  of  the 
Mississippi.  We  have  followed  the  progress  of  discov- 
every  over  the  southern  and  western  edges  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  basin  and  it  now  remains  to  retrace  to  the 
east  the  circuit  of  exploration  along  its  northern  border. 
Champlain  had  scarcely  founded  Quebec  when  Henry 
Hudson,  in  an  English  ship,  searched  to  the  extremity  of 
the  great  bay  and  spent  the  winter  of  1610-11  at  that  part 
of  it  which  reaches  the  farthest  south  towards  Canada. 
In  a  map  published  in  1613  Champlain  laid  down  "  the 
bay  where  Hudson  did  winter  "  at  the  bottom  of  the 
present  James  Bay,  but  to  him  it  was  a  bay  of  the  north- 
ern ocean,  "  Mare  Magnum,"  extending  round  by  the 
north  to  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  and  in  his  last  map,  that  in 
the  voyages  of  1632,  the  belief  is  still  manifest.  Button, 
Bylot,  Baffin,  and  Fox  followed.  Button  had  wintered 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Nelson  River  in  1612  and  James  at  the 
mouth  of  Rupert's  River  in  1631,  before  Lake  St.  John 
on  the  Saguenay  had  been  discovered  or  any  permanent 
post  had  been  founded  west  of  Quebec.  It  is  plain  on 
James'  map  of  1633  that  the  English  had  by  that  time 
circumnavigated  the  bay,  for  the  entire  shore  line  is  closed 
in;  but  Sanson's  map  of  1656  shows  a  small  opening 
where  a  strait  to  the  western  ocean  might  lurk.  To  reach 
that  supposed  Mare  Magnum  at  the  north  and  so  find  a 

375 


376    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

way  to  the  West  was  the  motive  of  Champlain's  voyage 
up  the  Ottawa  in  1613,  and  an  explanation  of  the  ready 
credence  given  to  the  impostor  Vignau. 

The  natural  development  of  the  colony  of  New  France 
was,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  retarded  by  the  Iroquois 
war  until  the  English  colonies  had  time  to  grow  strong. 
Not  only  did  these  truculent  savages  root  up  and  destroy 
the  Huron  nation  and  extinguish  the  Jesuit  missions  in 
the  West,  but  their  war  parties  enveloped  the  eastern 
settlements  and  reached  far  to  the  north — to  the  upper 
St.  Maurice,  to  Lake  St.  John,  and  even  beyond  the 
water-parting  of  Hudson's  Bay.  When,  however,  in 
1665,  the  French  Government  waked  up  to  its  oppor- 
tunities and  sent  out  in  quick  succession  Courcelles,  De 
Tracy,  Talon,  and  Frontenac,  the  colony  began  to  extend 
on  all  sides.  The  Indian  reports  of  vessels  on  Hudson's 
Bay  were  then  taken  by  the  government  as  signs  of  a 
new  danger,  while  at  the  same  time  the  fur  traders  began 
to  feel  the  competition  of  the  English  merchants. 

In  the  diplomatic  discussions  of  later  years  the  French 
Government  put  forth  some  claims  which  had  no  founda- 
tion in  fact.  It  was  confidently  asserted,  and  the  asser- 
tion is  even  now  occasionally  repeated,  that  in  1656  the 
Sovereign  Council  of  Quebec  authorised  an  expedition 
under  Jean  Bourdon,  and  that  he  went  to  Hudson's  Bay 
and  took  possession  for  France.  This  is  easily  disproved. 
The  Sovereign  Council  was  not  created  until  1663,  and 
the  Jesuit  Relation  of  1658  records  the  fact  that  Bour- 
don's voyage  was  made  in  1657,  and  also  that  he  returned 
to  Quebec  on  August  1 1  of  that  year  and  reported  that  on 
account  of  the  ice  he  was  unable  to  go  along  the  Labrador 
coast  further  than  lat.  55°  N. — or  five  degrees  south  of 
the  entrance  to  the  bay.  It  was  also  asserted  that  a  Cana- 
dian fur  company  in  1661  built  a  fort  on  Lake  Nemiskau. 
That  is  abundantly  disproved  by  Father  Albanel's  narra- 
tive of  his  voyage  in  1672.  It  is  on  record  that  savages 
coming  down  from  the  north  asked  for  missionaries;  but 
that  is  proof  that  no  missionaries  had  penetrated  to  their 
country,  wherever  it  was.     It  was  also  claimed  that  in 


EXPLORATION   TO   THE  NORTH  't,']^ 

1663  "  a  missionary,  the  Sieur  Couture,"  was  sent  north 
with  five  men  and  that  he  planted  the  arms  of  France  on 
the  shore  of  Hudson's  Bay.  No  record  of  such  a  thing 
exists.  All  that  exists  is  a  short  permit  of  ten  lines,  dated 
May  10,  1663,  by  the  Governor  d'Avaugour  to  "  Lieut. 
Couture "  to  be  absent,  with  some  savages  from  the 
north,  for  so  long  as  he  may  deem  it  advisable  in  the 
public  interest.  No  one  in  those  days  could  be  absent  in 
the  woods  without  a  permit.  Couture  in  the  early  part  of 
his  life  was  a  "  donne  "  of  the  Jesuits — a  lay  worker  with- 
out pay.  If  he  had  been  to  the  bay  the  Jesuits  could  not 
have  been  ignorant  of  it,  as  they  unquestionably  were,  and 
any  act  so  important  would  have  been  recorded.  The 
closer  the  records  are  examined  the  more  certain  it  will 
appear  that,  excepting  Chouart  and  Radisson,  as  related 
in  a  previous  chapter,  Father  Albanel,  in  1672,  was  the 
first  Frenchman  to  cross  the  height  of  land.  Chouart 
and  Radisson  made  no  stay  and  Father  Albanel  found,  at 
his  arrival,  the  English  flag  flying  on  a  vessel  and  build- 
ings erected  by  the  English ;  so  that  whether  the  title  be 
claimed  by  discovery  or  possession,  it  must  be  awarded 
to  the  English. 

It  is  a  very  remarkable  fact  that  from  Lake  Mistassini 
on  the  east  to  the  longitude  of  Lake  Nipigon  on  the  west, 
all  the  rivers  north  of  the  water-parting  converge,  like  the 
spokes  of  a  wheel,  to  James'  Bay.  The  bay  is  very  shal- 
low, from  the  silt  brought  down  by  so  many  large  and 
rapid  rivers.  The  height  of  land  is  obscure,  winding 
about  and  threading  its  way  through  myriads  of  small 
lakes  and  the  interlocking  sources  of  countless  streams. 
Often  the  same  lake  gives  rise  to  two  rivers  flowing  in 
opposite  directions.  The  height  of  the  divide  ranges  only 
from  850  to  1350  feet  above  the  sea  level,  but  the  country 
is  rough  and  the  portage  routes  used  by  the  Indians  were 
few.  That  from  Lake  Nipigon  leads  to  a  lake  discharg- 
ing both  ways  and  issues  upon  the  Albany  River.  The 
next  towards  the  east  is  by  the  Michipicoton  River  on 
the  east  of  Lake  Superior  and  leads  into  the  Moose  River. 
One  of  these  two,  doubtless  the  first,  Chouart  and  Radis- 


378    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

son  followed  into  James'  Bay.     The  second  is  the  route 
now  generally  used. 

The  next  route  is  by  the  Ottawa,  and  there  is  no  record 
of  exploration  to  the  north  by  that  river  until  1686,  when 
an  expedition  started  from  Montreal  to  attack  the  English 
posts  on  the  bay.  It  was  in  a  time  of  profound  peace  and 
the  English  had  no  suspicion  of  danger;  still,  to  take  a 
body  of  a  hundred  men  over  such  a  route  and  bring  them 
back  without  mishap  was  a  very  arduous  task.  The 
party  consisted  of  sixty-eight  Canadian  militia  and 
thirty  soldiers.  Three  brothers  of  the  Le  Moyne  family 
of  Montreal,  who  subsequently  won  high  distinction  in 
the  French  service,  were  in  leading  positions,  but  De 
Troyes  was  in  chief  command.  They  assembled  in  win- 
ter on  snowshoes  at  the  head  of  the  Long  Sault  on  the 
Ottawa,  where  they  made  canoes,  and  as  soon  as  the  ice 
came  down  they  proceeded  up  the  river.  Passing  on  the 
left  hand  the  Mattawa  route  to  Lake  Huron,  they  went 
on  northward  to  Lake  Temiscaming,  and  thence  by  a 
chain  of  lakes  and  streams  with  short  portages  across  the 
height  of  land  into  Lake  Abitibi,  830  feet  above  the  sea. 
They  followed  down  the  Abitibi  River  into  the  Moose 
River,  and  came  out  at  the  fort  at  its  mouth,  then  called 
Hayes  Factory,  which  they  surprised,  and  then  proceeded 
to  seize  the  forts  at  Rupert's  River  on  the  east  and  at  the 
Albany  River  on  the  west.  The  English  were  sent  home 
in  the  arriving  ships  and  French-Canadian  garrisons  were 
left  in  charge  of  the  posts.  A  small  post  was  established 
on  Lake  Abitibi  as  a  connecting  link.  That  the  English 
were  in  effective  possession  of  the  bay  is  proved  by  the 
fact  that  they  were  holding,  besides  the  captured  forts, 
posts  on  the  Severn  and  Nelson  rivers.  Under  the  rules 
of  international  law  current  at  that  period,  and  for  a  long 
time  subsequent,  the  English  had  a  valid  claim  as  far  as 
the  height  of  land,  and  so  it  is  formulated  in  the  Royal 
Charter  of  1670  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The 
French  disputed  it ;  but  a  hundred  years  later  set  up  a 
similar  claim  to  the  whole  valley  of  the  Ohio.  It  is  not 
the  justice  or  equity  of  a  pretension,  but  the  power  of  the 


EXPLORATION   TO   THE   NORTH  379 

nation  making  it,  which  renders  a  claim  under  interna- 
tional law  so  serious  to  the  weaker  party. 

Thirty  years  previous  to  De  Troyes'  raid  the  Indians 
on  the  north  and  west,  in  order  to  escape  the  Iroquois  war 
parties,  frequently  crossed  from  the  head-waters  of  the 
Ottawa  into  those  of  the  St.  Maurice  Or  Saguenay  and 
came  down  to  Three  Rivers  or  Tadoussac.  Although  the 
St.  Maurice  is  a  large  and  important  river  it  does  not 
directly  lead  to  any  convenient  route  to  the  bay,  but  owing 
to  the  wide  reach  of  its  northern  sources  the  post  called 
Three  Rivers  at  its  mouth  early  became  an  important 
centre  of  the  fur  trade.  Pont-Grave  had  noticed  the 
suitability  of  the  place,  and  Champlain,  and  even  Cartier, 
had  ascended  the  river  to  the  first  rapids.  There  was  no 
permanent  post,  however,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  until 
the  town  of  Three  Rivers  was  founded  in  1634.  Far  up 
the  river  were  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Attikamegues, 
or  Whitefish  Indians,  a  gentle  and  docile  people,  very 
amenable  to  instruction,  though  as  apt  to  forget  it ;  and 
at  their  solicitation  Father  Buteux,  the  Jesuit  missionary 
at  Three  Rivers,  ascended  the  river  to  the  height  of  land. 
It  was  a  long  and  laborious  journey,  but  the  good  father 
was  more  than  recompensed  by  the  exemplary  piety  of  his 
flock.  He  was  absent  from  March  27  to  June  18,  165 1. 
He  met  many  parties  of  savages,  but  the  precise  places 
visited  are  not  easy  to  identify,  for  many  of  the  mission- 
aries were  not  as  much  interested  in  geography  as  might 
be  wished,  but  the  Shawinigan  Falls  may  be  easily  rec- 
ognised from  his  description.  On  his  first  voyage  he 
had  with  him  the  Sieur  de  Normanville  and  two  men. 
The  poor  savages  besought  him  to  make  them  another 
visit,  and  as  a  pledge  of  return  he  left  his  portable  chapel 
to  the  care  of  the  chief.  He  kept  his  promise  at  the  sacri- 
fice of  his  life,  for  he  and  a  young  Frenchman,  his  com- 
panion, were  murdered  at  a  portage  by  a  war  party  of 
Iroquois.  The  territory  to  the  height  of  land  was  reached, 
and  two  more  martyrs  were  added  to  the  honour  roll  of 
the  Company  of  Jesus. 

Yet  farther  to  the  east  the  Saguenay  opens  its  gloomy 


380    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

portals,  leading  the  earliest  sailors,  by  the  profound  depth 
of  its  waters,  black  with  overshadowing  mountains,  to 
believe  it  to  be  an  avenue  to  the  western  ocean.  Nor  can 
we  wonder  at  their  error,  for  the  largest  battle-ship  of 
our  days  can  pass  fifty-seven  miles  up,  and  the  tide  rises 
twelve  feet  at  Chicoutimi.  A  stern  and  savage  wilder- 
ness it  still  is,  but  at  Chicoutimi  nature  relaxes  her  frown- 
ing aspect,  and  in  the  basin  of  Lake  St.  John  spreads  out 
a  broad  region  of  fertile  land.  Beyond  that  is  a  vast 
wilderness  unvisited  save  by  wandering  tribes  of  Indians, 
and  unsettled  save  by  trading  posts  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. 

The  missionaries  who  laboured  in  the  West  suffered  in 
their  lifetime,  but  their  names  are  honoured  by  millions, 
even  of  people  who  are  strangers  to  their  faith.  Cities  are 
named  after  them,  monuments  are  erected  and  orations 
are  made  in  their  honour,  but  the  names  of  those  whose 
burning  zeal  spent  itself  in  the  regions  beyond  the 
Saguenay  are  little  known,  save  to  the  special  student. 
Although  the  statue  of  "  a  bearded  athlete  "  in  the  Capi- 
tol at  Washington  may  misrepresent  to  our  eyes  the  out- 
ward aspect  of  the  saintly  Jesuit,  the  real  Marquette  is 
almost  canonised  in  Wisconsin,  and  Brebeuf  is  still  vener- 
ated at  Quebec.  There  is  a  monument  to  Allouez  in  Mil- 
waukee, but  the  names  of  De  Quen,  and  Nonvel,  and 
Laure,  and  De  Crepieul  are  comparatively  unknown. 
These  last  did  not  have  to  contend  with  the  truculent  Iro- 
quois, the  shifty  Hurons,  or  the  chivalrous  Sioux;  their 
flocks  were  the  timid  savages  of  the  northern  wilds  whose 
arms  were  trained  to  ply  the  paddle  rather  than  the  toma- 
hawk. To  win  the  souls  of  these  wandering  savages 
Frangois  de  Crepieul  renounced  the  prospects  of  a  bril- 
liant career  in  France.  He  followed  them  to  their  hunt- 
ing grounds,  sharing  their  food  and  sleeping  in  the  woods 
and  in  the  snow — followed  them  in  regions  scarcely 
yet  explored,  and  bore  with  them  the  hardships  of  the 
long  winters  of  the  northern  wilds.  For  thirty  years  he 
laboured  in  the  missions  of  Tadoussac  and  Lake  St.  John, 
and  when  at  last,  worn  out,  he  went  to  die  at  Quebec,  the 


EXPLORATION   TO   THE   NORTH  381 

covered  dwellings  of  civilisation  had  become  strange  and 
distasteful  to  him. 

The  Recollet  Friar  Dolbeau  was  the  first  to  attempt  to 
visit  the  northern  Indians.  He  started  in  December, 
161 5,  to  winter  with  the  Montagnais.  How  far  he  went 
does  not  appear,  but  his  efforts  were  along  the  north  shore 
of  the  River  and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  rather  than 
towards  the  interior.  He  was  obliged  to  abandon  the 
attempt,  for,  his  eyes  being  weak,  the  smoke  of  the  Indian 
lodges  nearly  blinded  him. 

It  was  not  until  1647  that  the  upper  Saguenay  was 
explored.  On  July  11  of  that  year  Father  de  Quen  left 
Tadoussac  to  visit  the  nation  of  the  Pore-epic  (Porcupine 
nation),  so  named  from  the  number  of  these  creatures 
found  in  their  country.  His  guides  took  him  by  Lake 
Kenogami  and  a  short  portage  into  a  stream  falling  into 
Lake  St.  John,  thus  avoiding  the  heavy  portages  on  the 
main  river  and  especially  the  long  and  violent  rapids  at 
the  discharge  of  the  lake.  The  Indian  name  of  Lake  St. 
John  is  Piouagamik — the  flat  lake — and  here  the  mis- 
sionary was  surprised  to  issue  upon  an  immense  plain 
surrounding  a  lake  almost  circular  in  shape.  High  moun- 
tains bounded  the  level  landscape,  excepting  on  the  north, 
and  many  streams  falling  into  the  lake  brought  down 
numerous  scattered  tribes  to  its  shores.  The  priest 
remained  several  days  with  the  Pore-epics,  w^ho  thronged 
round  to  welcome  the  first  white  man  to  visit  their  coun- 
tr}^  In  1652  he  returned  and  the  Indians  built  him  a 
little  church  and  house,  where  he  commenced  the  mission 
of  St.  John.  It  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  River  Metabetch- 
ouan.  Father  de  Crepieul  established  the  mission  firmly 
in  1676  and  made  it  a  centre  of  evangelisation,  and  the 
merchants  made  it  also  a  post  of  the  fur  trade.  The 
broad  clearings  of  the  Jesuit  mission  still  witness  to 
the  fertility  of  the  soil,  but  the  buildings  are  gone.  When 
the  English  took  Canada  the  whole  northeastern  region 
was  forgotten.  Under  the  name  of  the  King's  Posts 
{Domaine  dii  Roi)  it  was  successively  leased  to  the  Labra- 
dor Company,  the  Northwest  Company,  and,  lastly,  to  the 


382    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  was  supposed  to  be  a  "  great 
and  terrible  wilderness."  The  first  settlers  began  to 
arrive  upon  Lake  St.  John  in  1861,  and  it  was  not  until 
1868  that  a  missionary  was  sent  there,  where  Father  de 
Quen  had  preached  in  1647! 

This  lake  of  the  north,  isolated  on  the  map  for  so 
many  years,  has  been  the  centre  of  many  legends.  It  is 
remarkable  on  many  accounts.  Five  large  rivers  and 
many  smaller  streams  discharge  into  it,  and  in  spring 
the  melting  snow  raises  its  level  twenty-five  feet ;  for  it 
has  only  one  outlet — where  by  a  double  channel  of  foam- 
ing rapids  the  Saguenay  drains  its  waters  into  the  St. 
Lawrence,  amidst  scenery  of  wild  and  surpassing  gran- 
deur. Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  than  the  upper 
Saguenay  when  the  hills  between  which  it  flows  take  on 
their  autumn  adornment  of  crimson  and  yellow.  There 
is  none  of  the  depressing  gloom  of  the  lower  river,  for 
the  woods  clothing  the  hills  are  deciduous,  and  show  as 
many  colours  as  the  sunset.  The  broad,  level  country 
round  the  lake  produces  bountiful  crops  of  wheat  and 
barley,  and  there  also  maize  ripens  and  the  tobacco 
plant  flowers.  The  great  tributaries  open  up  the  whole 
interior  by  their  interlocking  sources.  On  the  west  the 
St.  Maurice  and  Ottawa  and,  on  the  north,  Lake  Mis- 
tassini  are  easily  reached.  From  Lake  Mistassini  Ru- 
pert's River  flows  into  Hudson's  Bay  and,  from  Rupert's 
River,  there  is  ready  transit  to  the  East  Main  River,  which 
latter  stream  flows  also  into  the  Bay  on  the  west,  but,  on 
the  east,  leads  to  a  portage  to  Lake  Nichicun.  From 
Lake  Nichicun,  the  central  point  of  the  plateau  of  savage 
Labrador,  Low,  in  1892-94,  explored  the  whole  immense 
peninsula,  until  then  a  blank  on  our  maps. 

In  this  Lake  St.  John  region  the  old  scenes  are  still 
reproduced.  In  1652  Father  de  Quen  met  a  second  time 
the  converts  he  had  taught  there  and  at  Tadoussac.  It 
was  Whitsunday,  and  the  poor  savages  dressed  the  altar. 
They  attended  mass,  and  sang  with  their  priest  hymns  in 
their  language  and  the  tunes  they  had  been  taught.  Two 
hundred  and  thirty-six  years  later  the  writer  witnessed, 


Notmaii     Photo 


Grand    Discharge    Rapids,    Lake    St.    John 


EXPLORATION   TO   THE   NORTH  383 

at  Pointe  Bleue  on  the  same  lake,  a  similar  service  con- 
ducted by  a  priest  of  the  Oblate  Order.  From  all  parts 
of  the  interior  the  Indians  had  assembled  for  their  fall 
trade  at  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  post.  Marriages 
and  baptisms  were  performed,  confessions  were  heard, 
and  counsel  given  by  the  devoted  missionary.  At  the 
service  of  the  Benediction  (Salut),  kneeling  before  the 
altar,  the  men  and  women  sang  the  church  hymn  respon- 
sively  in  Montagnais — the  men  in  a  deep  bass  and 
the  women  in  a  high  treble,  of  a  peculiar  metallic  quality 
not  unpleasing,  but  like  the  high  notes  of  a  piano.  It 
was  an  impressive  service,  for  it  vividly  reproduced  the 
scenes  described  by  Father  de  Quen  in  the  Relation  of 
1652,  and  many  similar  in  the  Relations  of  other  years. 
The  Jesuits  are  gone,  and  their  buildings  are  gone,  but 
some  of  their  work  in  the  hearts  of  these  poor  wild  people 
has  endured. 

The  Jesuit  Relation  of  1661  gives  a  clear  statement  of 
the  views  then  prevalent  concerning  Hudson's  Bay. 
Writing  from  Quebec  the  narrative  says :  "  We  have 
long  known  that,  in  our  rear,  we  have  the  Northern  Sea ; 
that  it  is  adjacent  to  the  sea  of  China,  and  that  only  the 
gateway  has  to  be  found.  There  is  that  famous  bay, 
first  discovered  by  Hudson,  who  gave  it  his  name,  without 
reaping  any  other  fame  than  that  of  having  first  opened 
the  road  which  ends  with  unknown  empires."  All  the 
previous  winter  a  Nipissing  chief  had  been  telling  the 
people  of  Quebec  about  the  north,  and  especially  of  a 
general  fair  to  be  held  the  following  summer,  and  to 
which  the  Indians  of  Quebec  and  Tadoussac  had  been 
invited.  Such  an  opportunity  of  meeting  the  assembled 
tribes  was  not  to  be  missed,  and  two  of  the  most  capable 
and  experienced  fathers — Gabriel  Druillettes  and  Claude 
Dablon — were  chosen  for  the  expedition. 

If  any  Canadian  had  previously  visited  Hudson's  Bay 
these  fathers  must  have  known  it ;  but  the  Relation  is  very 
definite  on  that  point.  The  heading  of  the  Journal  of 
the  expedition  is  "  Journal  of  the  first  voyage  made  to- 
wards the  Sea  of  the  North."     The  voyagers  say  dis- 


384    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

tinctly  that  they  did  not  cross  the  height  of  land,  but 
stopped  at  Lake  Nekouba,  the  meeting  place  fixed,  and 
from  thence  returned.  The  expedition  started  from  Tad- 
oussac  on  June  i,  1661,  in  forty  canoes,  and  went  up  the 
Saguenay  to  Lake  St.  John  by  the  usual  route  through 
Lake  Kenogami.  They  rested  a  few  days  on  the  lake, 
wliich  they  describe,  and  add  that  "  no  Frenchman  has 
passed  beyond  it."  They  then  entered  a  country,  which 
they  say  was,  "  up  to  now  unknown  to  the  French,"  and, 
on  June  19  commenced  the  ascent  of  the  Chamouchouan 
River.  After  much  labour  they  at  last  reached  Lake 
Nekouba,  a  central  point  in  the  northern  wilds,  where, 
write  the  voyagers,  every  year  a  sort  of  a  fair  is  held, 
at  which  the  northern  savages  meet  to  trade.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark  that  the  only  note  of  climate  is  that 
the  party  suffered  from  heat.  The  fathers,  however, 
gave  a  very  bad  account  of  the  land  they  passed  through 
and  complain  of  the  smoke  from  forest  fires.  At  Lake 
Nekouba  the  voyagers  met  representatives  of  eight  or  ten 
tribes,  but  even  here  the  implacable  Mohawks  had  pene- 
trated and  were  haunting  the  portages.  News  came  that 
they  had  killed  many  and  had  destroyed  the  whole  tribe 
of  the  Escurieux.  The  assembly  broke  up  in  fear  and 
scattered  to  their  homes.  The  ubiquitous  Iroquois 
checked  the  French  advance  on  the  north  as  they  had  in 
the  far  West.  From  Lake  Nekouba  to  Lake  Michigan 
is  a  long  stretch,  and  yet  that  redoubtable  confederacy 
was  able  to  command  it.  Nothing  could  thenceforth  hold 
the  Indians  of  the  party  together,  and  the  missionaries 
had  to  abandon  the  idea  of  going  further,  and  returned 
to  Tadoussac  by  the  same  route. 

All  had  changed  in  New  France  by  1670.  De  Tracy 
and  Courcelles  and  the  regiment  of  Carignan-Salieres  had 
brought  the  Iroquois  to  terms,  but  in  the  meantime  the 
English  had  become  strong.  In  1670  they  were  firmly 
established  on  Hudson's  Bay  and  by  the  streams  con- 
verging into  James'  Bay  the  news  reached  Quebec 
almost  simultaneously  from  Tadoussac  and  Sault  Ste. 
Marie,  and  produced  a  great  sensation.     The  watchful 


EXPLORATION   TO   THE   NORTH  385 

intendant.  Talon,  learned  from  the  Algonquins  that  two 
ships  had  been  in  the  bay,  and  in  1671  selected  Father 
Albanel,  Denys  de  St.  Simon,  with  another  Frenchman 
and  six  Indians,  to  go  to  the  bay  and  ascertain  what  the 
English  were  doing  and  to  plant  the  flag  of  France  on  its 
shore.  The  party  left  Quebec  for  Tadoussac  on  August 
6,  1 67 1,  where  with  much  difficulty  they  procured  a 
guide.  Proceeding  by  way  of  Chicoutimi  and  Lake 
Kenogami  they  arrived  at  Lake  St.  John,  where  they 
found  a  party  of  Whitefish  Indians  from  the  source  of  the 
St.  Maurice  and  some  Mistassinis,  who  told  them  that 
there  were  two  vessels  trading  on  the  bay  and  that  there 
had  been  some  conflict  with  the  Indians.  Albanel 
decided  to  send  back  to  Quebec  for  letters  of  authorisa- 
tion or  passports,  and  in  the  meantime  to  pass  the  winter 
on  the  lake. 

On  June  i,  1672,  the  party  started  for  the  north. 
They  went  up  the  Chamouchouan  to  Lake  Nekouba,  the 
limit  of  the  expedition  of  Druillettes  and  Dablon  in  1661, 
and  from  thence  to  Lake  Palistaskau,  the  summit,  1360 
feet  above  the  sea,  where  a  little  tongue  of  land  separates 
two  lakes  discharging  in  opposite  directions.  The  por- 
tage across  is  about  half  a  mile.  A  party  of  Mistassini 
Indians  endeavoured  to  stop  the  voyagers,  but  Albanel 
made  presents  and  addressed  them,  exhorting  them  to 
carry  their  furs  to  Tadoussac  and  not  to  trade  with  the 
men  on  the  bay,  "  who  did  not  pray  to  God."  On  June 
18  he  arrived  at  Lake  Mistassini,  of  which  he  was  the 
discoverer,  and  coasted  it  until  he  found  the  Nemiscau 
(Rupert's  River).  He  gives  a  good  account  of  the  lake 
and  surrounding  country.  Even  in  that  remote  region 
they  found  an  abandoned  Iroquois  fort.  On  June  28  they 
arrived  at  the  shore  of  the  bay,  where  they  found  a  small 
sloop  (hoy)  flying  the  English  flag,  and  two  houses, 
but  no  people  in  them. 

To  quote  the  opinion  of  one  of  his  own  order,  Father 
Albanel  was  more  of  a  discoverer  than  a  missionary,  and 
he  might  have  added  more  of  a  politician  than  either. 
Albanel  entered  into  communication  with  the  natives,  and 


386    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

his  own  account  will  explain  his  subsequent  difficulties 
with  the  English.  He  found  that  the  savages,  under  the 
pretext  of  favouring  the  English,  with  whom  they  were 
accustomed  to  trade,  were  taking  umbrage  at  his  visit 
and  were  suspicious  of  his  object.  He  writes:  "To 
make  them  take  a  correct  view  of  our  action  I  determined 
to  convince  them  that  I  was  entirely  disinterested  in  my 
visit,  and  that  I  had  not  come  to  carry  on  any  trading  or 
to  enrich  myself  at  their  expense,  or  to  the  prejudice  of 
the  people  with  whom  they  were  accustomed  to  deal — 
but  rather  to  enrich  them  by  giving  them  all  we  had 
brought  so  far."  Then  the  politic  father  assembled  all 
the  chiefs  and  made  an  oration,  giving  them  presents, 
telling  them  the  benefits  the  French  had  bestowed  on 
them  by  conquering  the  Iroquois,  and  that  they  had  no 
motive  in  doing  so  but  to  constrain  the  northern  tribes  to 
pray  to  God  in  earnest.  He  adds :  "  I  well  know  that  it 
is  for  God  alone  to  touch  the  heart ;  but  these  presents 
produced  such  an  effect  on  the  hearers  that,  under  the 
influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  touched  their  hearts, 
they  adopted  the  resolution  to  have  themselves  all  in- 
structed." Albanel  was  five  days  with  the  Indians,  most 
of  which  time  he  spent  in  teaching  and  baptising  some 
sixty-two  persons,  children  and  adults.  He  promised 
to  return  the  following  year,  or  to  send  someone  in  his 
place,  and  he  says  he  left  the  Indians  in  tears.  He 
returned  by  the  same  route  and  did  not  omit  to  plant  the 
standard  of  France  on  Lake  Nemiskau.  He  met  none  of 
the  English,  though  he  slept  in  their  houses.  From  the 
complaints  subsequently  made  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany he  would  seem  to  have  pulled  down  the  English 
flag  he  found  flying  on  the  bay.  He  left  on  July  5  and 
arrived  at  Tadoussac  on  August  i.  The  trained  intel- 
ligence of  the  Jesuit  records  the  physical  peculiarities  of 
James'  Bay — the  brackish  water,  its  shallowness,  and  the 
incredibly  long  reflux  of  the  tide.  One  observation  is  so 
apropos  to  present-day  discussion  that  it  may  properly 
be  quoted.  After  dwelling  on  the  abundance  of  wild 
fowl  and   the  plenty  and   variety  of   fruits,  he  writes: 


EXPLORATION   TO  THE  NORTH  387 

"  They  are  in  error  who  have  held  this  region,  whether 
by  reason  of  the  intense  cold,  the  ice  and  snow,  or  lack  of 
wood  suitable  for  building  and  heating,  is  uninhabitable. 
They  have  not  seen  these  vast  and  dense  forests,  these 
beautiful  plains  and  these  wild  prairies  which  border  the 
rivers  in  various  places  covered  with  every  kind  of  grass 
suitable  for  cattle.  I  can  confidently  say  that  on  the  fif- 
teenth of  June  there  were  wild  roses  here  as  beautiful  and 
fragrant  as  those  at  Quebec,  The  season  seemed  to  me 
farther  advanced,  the  air  extremely  mild  and  agreeable. 
There  was  no  night  during  my  visit ;  the  twilight  had  not 
faded  in  the  west  when  the  dawn  appeared  in  the  east." 

The  Jesuit  Relations  put  it  beyond  all  doubt  that 
Albanel  was  the  first  Frenchman  to  reach  Hudson's  Bay 
— excepting,  as  before  explained,  Chouart  and  Radisson. 
In  the  opening  letter  of  the  Relation  of  1672  Father 
Dablon,  the  Superior  of  the  missions,  speaks  of  the  "  dis- 
covery "  of  the  northern  sea  just  made,  and  in  that  of 
167 1  he  announces  the  departure  of  Albanel  for  that  sea 
"  which  no  Frenchman  had  hitherto  reached."  Albanel 
writes:  "  Hitherto  this  journey  had  been  deemed  impos- 
sible for  the  French,  who  had  already  thrice  attempted  it, 
but  unable  to  overcome  the  obstacles  in  its  way,  had  been 
forced  to  abandon  it  in  despair  of  success." 

It  has  been  related  in  a  former  chapter  how  Chouart 
and  Radisson  were  robbed  by  the  Governor  of  Canada 
of  the  results  of  their  northern  voyage  and  were  unable 
to  obtain  redress  on  appeal  to  France.  They  were  not 
people  to  sit  quiet  under  an  injury  so  great.  They  trans- 
ferred their  services  to  England  and  made  laiown  to  in- 
fluential persons  the  resources  of  Hudson's  Bay  with  such 
success  that  in  1668  two  vessels  were  fitted  out  and 
sailed  for  the  bay.  The  Nonsuch,  commanded  by  a  New 
England  skipper,  Captain  Zachary  Gillam,  and  carrying 
Chouart,  arrived  at  the  bay ;  the  other,  the  Eaglet,  with 
Radisson  on  board,  had  to  put  back.  Chouart  directed 
Gillam  to  the  mouth  of  Rupert's  River  and  there  the 
party  spent  the  winter  of  1668-69.  They  returned  to 
England  in  1669,  and  in  1670  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 


388    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

was  chartered  and  an  expedition  was  sent  out  to  establish 
posts  upon  the  bay.  The  first  governor,  Charles  Bayly, 
was  sent  in  command  and  he  built  the  first  post  at  Ru- 
pert's River.  These  were  the  people  who  were  on  the 
bay  when  Albanel  arrived. 

Father  Albanel  did  go  back  as  he  promised,  but  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  sent  by  ecclesiastical  authority. 
He  went  armed  with  a  letter  from  the  Governor,  Fron- 
tenac,  addressed  to  the  "  Commandant  for  the  King  of 
Great  Britain  at  Hudson's  Bay."  It  was  dated  October 
8,  1673,  and,  after  setting  forth  the  harmony  existing 
between  their  respective  monarchs  and  his  own  determi- 
nation to  maintain  friendly  relations  with  the  English  on 
the  bay,  Frontenac  asks  that  the  commandant  will  favour 
Father  Albanel  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability.  He  gives  no 
hint  of  the  object  of  Albanel's  visit. 

Father  Albanel  left  Quebec  that  year  and  wintered  at 
some  place  north  of  the  Saguenay,  and  on  the  route  to 
Lake  Mistassini  Father  de  Crepieul  met  him  in  January 
and  again  in  February,  1674,  laid  up  in  an  Indian  hut 
from  the  effects  of  a  bad  fall.  The  place  of  meeting  was 
on  a  river  which  falls  into  the  Saguenay  on  the  north 
shore  opposite  Chicoutimi.  Such  a  route  to  Lake  Mis- 
tassini is  laid  down  on  Father  Laure's  map  of  1733,  and 
was  better  known  by  the  Jesuit  missionaries  then  than  it 
is  now.  Nothing  was  heard  of  him  in  Quebec  for  some 
years;  but  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  records  it 
appears  that  he  arrived  at  the  bay  on  August  30,  1674, 
and  presented  his  letters  to  the  commandant.  Suspicion 
was  aroused  by  letters  which  he  brought  to  Chouart,  who 
was  then  at  Fort  Rupert.  The  result  was  that  they  sent 
him  to  England  as  a  prisoner,  charged  with  drawing 
away  the  Indians  from  the  English  alliance,  with  pulling 
down  the  English  flag  in  the  absence  of  the  English,  and 
with  bringing  letters  to  seduce  Chouart  from  the  service 
of  the  company.  The  petition  in  which  these  complaints 
are  set  forth  is  dated  January  26,  1676,  and  further  states 
that  after  Albanel  had  promised  not  to  interfere  again 
they  had  released  him,  whereupon  he  went  to  Paris,  and 


EXPLORATION   TO  THE  NORTH  389 

was  then  there  with  Chouart  and  Radisson  planning  new 
schemes  to  injure  the  company.  The  petition  prays  that 
the  Ambassador  to  France  be  instructed  to  lay  these  com- 
plaints before  the  King  of  France  with  a  view  to  prevent 
their  schemes  being  carried  out.  The  matter  came  to  the 
King  in  council,  and  instructions  were  given  in  accord- 
ance with  the  petition,  Albanel  did  return  to  Canada, 
but  not  to  the  Saguenay  mission,  and  he  troubled  the 
company  no  more. 

Not  so,  however,  was  it  with  the  shifty  Radisson. 
Whether  tied  by  Mohawks  to  a  stake  for  torture  or  out- 
witting the  Onondagas  at  an  "  eat  all  "  feast ;  whether 
with  the  Sioux  on  the  Mississippi  or  the  Crees  on  Lake 
Nipigon;  with  the  Governors  of  New  France  or  the 
Ministers  at  the  French  court,  he  was  always  superior  to 
the  occasion — a  most  interesting  Canadian  Ulysses,  not 
to  be  overreached  by  courtier,  merchant,  or  savage.  The 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  unwisely  quarrelled  with  him 
and  his  brother-in-law,  Chouart,  whereupon  they  resumed 
their  allegiance  to  France,  and  after  a  year  or  two  of 
adventures  in  the  Antilles  in  the  service  of  France  Radis- 
son, in  1682,  organised  a  Canadian  company,  and  with 
two  vessels  started  on  July  ii  to  Hudson's  Bay  to  found 
a  post  at  the  mouth  of  Nelson  River.  After  two  cen- 
turies of  neglect  such  keen  interest  in  Hudson's  Bay 
seems  strange  to  us,  but  it  happened  that  others  besides 
Radisson  had  fixed  upon  the  same  locality  for  a  post,  and 
when  the  French  ships  arrived  they  found  that  Captain 
Benjamin  Gillam  of  Boston  had  preceded  them  by  four- 
teen days.  This  Gillam  must  not  be  confounded  with  his 
father,  Zachary  Gillam,  who  was  at  the  time  in  the  com- 
pany's service.  Ten  days  later  Governor  Bridgar  arrived 
with  workmen  and  materials  to  build  a  fort  in  the  same 
locality,  and  was  warned  off  by  Radisson.  The  details 
are  too  long  to  narrate ;  it  will  be  sufficient  to  say  that 
they  all  settled  amicably  down  to  winter  on  the  Nelson 
River,  and  on  the  Hayes  River,  quite  near.  In  the 
spring,  however,  Radisson  got  the  better  of  both  his 
competitors.     He    carried    off    Bridgar    and    Gillam    to 


390    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Quebec  and  sent  the  rest  of  the  EngHsh  home.  All  this 
happened  in  time  of  peace,  and  therefore  on  arrival  in 
Canada  the  prisoners  were  at  once  released,  but  Radisson 
had  succeeded  in  establishing  a  French  fort  on  the  bay 
and  had  left  a  garrison  there  under  the  command  of  his 
nephew,  young  Chouart.  In  1683  Radisson  went  to 
France  and  began  to  prepare  another  expedition,  but 
suddenly  in  May,  1684,  he  again  entered  the  English 
service  and  led  out  in  the  same  year  an  expedition  which 
captured  the  fort  he  had  himself  built  and  garrisoned, 
and  also  twenty  thousand  skins  of  furs  belonging  to  the 
French  Canadian  company.  This  feat  was  the  cause  of 
De  Troyes'  expedition  from  Montreal  in  1686,  already 
narrated. 

In  relating  these  rapid  changes  it  has  been  impossible 
to  follow  the  course  of  events  in  strict  order  of  time. 
Albanel's  second  expedition  was  in  1673-74.  In  1679 
Louis  Jolliet,  who  with  Father  Marquette  had  discovered 
the  Mississippi,  went  to  Hudson's  Bay  by  the  Saguenay 
and  Lake  Mistassini.  He  was  received  kindly  on  account 
of  his  western  discoveries,  but  he  remained  only  a  short 
time  and  returned  the  same  way  he  went.  He  reported  to 
Frontenac  that  the  English  had  forts  at  the  Rupert, 
Moose,  and  Albany  rivers,  and  intended  to  extend  their 
posts  farther  to  the  west,  and  also  that  they  had  a  ship  of 
twenty  guns,  and  two  barques  to  carry  on  their  trade. 
They  were,  in  fact,  in  possession  of  the  bay  they  had  dis- 
covered. 

The  region  we  are  now  considering  is  yet  a  wilderness. 
Chicoutimi  is  a  thriving  town,  and  during  the  last  thirty 
years  the  valley  of  Lake  St.  John  has  been  settled,  but 
beyond  that  the  country  is  wild.  No  cities  have  arisen 
in  the  tracks  of  the  early  explorers,  nor  are  any  likely  to 
arise.  On  the  north  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence  from  Isle 
aux  Coudres  eastward  to  Cape  Cormorant  stretched  the 
Domaine  dn  Roi,  extending  into  the  interior  for  an 
indefinite  distance — at  least  as  far  as  the  height  of  land. 
That  region  was  always  leased  as  fur  trading  reserve, 
and  the  farmers  of  the  revenue  during  the  French  regime 


EXPLORATION   TO   THE   NORTH  391 

from  time  to  time  secured  it.  After  the  conquest  it  was 
leased  to  the  Northwest  Company  and  their  successors, 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  until  the  provinces  of  Can- 
ada in  1867  were  formed  into  one  dominion  and  the 
lease  expired.  Under  the  French  regime  the  country  was 
penetrated  by  trading  posts,  and  the  same  was  the  case 
under  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  but  a  veil  was  drawn 
down  over  the  whole  territory  and  it  was  forgotten. 

The  region  was  known  also  to  the  French  as  the  Traite 
de  Tadonssac, — the  Tadoussac  trading  post, — for  Ta- 
doussac  was  the  point  from  which  the  trade  was  con- 
trolled. There,  before  Quebec  was  founded,  a  house  was 
built  by  Chauvin, — the  first  house  in  Canada, — but  the 
place  was  never  more  than  a  post  under  the  French,  and 
even  now  it  is  barely  a  village.  It  was,  however,  widely 
known  as  the  "  mission  of  Tadoussac,"  and  a  chapter  of 
each  annual  Jesuit  Relation  w^as  devoted  to  it,  for  it  was 
the  centre  of  the  missions,  not  only  to  the  northern  tribes, 
but  to  the  tribes  along  the  north  shore  as  far  as  the  Esqui- 
maux. When  the  Indians  came  down  to  trade  their  lodges 
clustered  round  the  church  and  the  few  buildings  of  the 
post  and  the  missionary  catechised,  preached,  and  bap- 
tised ;  but  after  a  short  time  the  trading  was  over  and  the 
Indians  scattered  to  their  hunting  grounds  in  the  far 
recesses  of  inner  Labrador.  In  that  way,  and  by  often 
following  the  Indians  in  their  migrations,  the  mission- 
aries gained  a  knowledge  of  the  north  country,  which  was 
forgotten  for  a  hundred  years  subsequent  to  the  conquest. 

Probably  information  concerning  all  thfs  territory  ex- 
isted in  the  archives  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  but 
outside  of  their  officers  the  whole  region  was  an  unknown 
wilderness,  even  to  the  Canadians  themselves.  Only  those 
who  were  familiar  with  the  Jesuit  Relations  and  the  old 
colony  records  knew  the  extent  of  what  had  been  for- 
gotten. In  1782  Michaux,  the  French  botanist,  reached 
Lake  Mistassini  with  the  intention  of  going  to  Hudson's 
Bay,  but  was  unable  to  proceed  farther.  In  i860  the 
rivers  Mistassini  and  Chamouchouan  were  surveyed  by 
A.  F.  Blaiklock,  and  in  1870  a  partial  survey  was  made 


392    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

by  the  Geological  Survey  officers;  but  Lake  Mistassini 
was  either  omitted  from  many  of  the  modern  maps  or  ap- 
peared in  distorted  shapes,  although  in  Father  Laure's 
map  of  1733  it  is  laid  down  with  its  own  very  distinctive 
shape,  divided  into  what  are  practically  three  long  and 
narrow  parallel  lakes.  There  are  a  number  of  forgotten 
names  laid  down  upon  that  old  map  besides  the  mission 
on  Isle  Ste.  Croix  on  the  lake.  So  little  was  known  of  the 
region  by  the  general  public  that  in  1880  a  report  was 
spread  of  an  enormous  lake,  larger  than  Lake  Superior, 
which  occupied  the  interior  of  the  peninsula  of  Labrador, 
and  an  expedition  had  to  be  fitted  out  in  1884-85  to  sur- 
vey the  lake  and  dispel  the  absurd  misconceptions  then 
prevalent.  Even  then  some  newspapers  persisted  for  a 
long  time  in  asserting  that  only  a  bay  of  the  prodigious 
sea  of  their  imagination  had  been  reached. 

The  coast  of  Labrador,  inside  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle, 
was,  as  narrated  in  earlier  chapters,  explored  by  Jacques 
Cartier,  and  it  continued  ever  after  to  be  the  annual 
resort  of  fishermen  and  whalers  from  the  western  nations 
of  Europe.  In  1661  the  Canadians  began  to  take  up  the 
shore  fisheries,  and  in  that  year  a  grant  of  a  narrow  strip 
along  the  north  shore  of  the  gulf  was  made  to  Frangois 
Bissot  of  Quebec.  The  islands  opposite,  fringing  the 
shore,  were  granted  in  1679  to  his  son-in-law,  Louis  Jol- 
liet,  and  a  relative  named  Lalande.  In  the  following  year 
Jolliet  received  for  himself  a  grant  of  the  whole  island 
of  Anticosti.  These  grants  extended  along  the  entire 
north  shore  of  the  gulf  from  Cape  Cormorant,  a  little  east 
of  Seven  Islands,  to  Bradore  Bay,  within  a  few  miles  of 
the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle.  Jolliet  spent  some  years  in 
exploration  there  and  in  carrying  on  the  fisheries.  The 
Jesuits  established  mission  stations  at  the  mouths  of  the 
most  important  rivers,  and  often  followed  the  savages  up 
to  their  hunting  grounds.  In  that  way  Father  Bailloquet 
visited  the  Papinachoix  on  the  upper  Bersimis  and  was 
followed  by  Father  Boucher.  Father  Nouvel,  as  early 
as  1664,  had  gone  up  the  Manicouagan  River  to  Mani- 
couagan  Lake,  which  he  named  Lake  Barnabe.     He  had 


EXPLORATION   TO   THE   NORTH  393 

planned  a  journey  to  Hudson's  Bay,  but  the  Indians  re- 
fused to  take  him.  It  may  also  be  supposed  that  he  knew, 
what  we  have  only  learned  in  1895,  that  Summit  Lake, 
the  source  of  the  Manicouagan,  discharges  also  to  the 
north  by  the  Kaniapiskau  River  into  Ungava  Bay.  In 
these  expeditions  the  fathers  must  often  have  reached  the 
edge  of  the  central  pleatau  of  Labrador.  Father  Nicholas 
in  1673  opened  a  mission  at  Seven  Islands.  That  was  the 
most  eastern  mission  post  established  on  the  north  shore. 
On  the  south  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  in  Acadia 
as  far  as  the  Penobscot,  the  missionaries  were  in  constant 
communication  with  Tadoussac ;  and  in  the  course  of 
their  duties  were  continually  acquiring  new  information 
concerning  the  geography  of  the  country.  Father  Druil- 
lettes  in  1646  was  the  first  Frenchman  to  penetrate,  by 
way  of  the  Chaudiere  River  (opposite  Quebec)  and  the 
Kennebec  River,  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  but,  in  1640, 
an  Englishman  with  a  party  of  twenty  Algonquins,  in 
search  of  a  passage  to  the  northern  sea  reached  Quebec 
by  that  route.  He  was  sent  to  Tadoussac  to  return 
to  England  by  way  of  France.  The  missions  to  the 
Etchemins  in  New  Brunswick  were  carried  on  by  the 
River  du  Loup,  opposite  Tadoussac.  The  route  was  over 
the  portage  to  Lake  Temiscouata  and  by  the  Madawaska 
into  the  St.  John  River.  Miscou  and  Perce,  at  the  mouth 
of  Chaleur  Bay,  became  favourite  resorts  for  fishermen 
from  France  at  a  very  early  date.  Restigouche  and 
Nipisiquit,  within  the  bay,  were  mission  stations,  as  also 
were  Richibucto  and  Miramichi  on  the  gulf  coast  of  New 
Brunswick.  From  the  mouths  of  these  rivers  the  interior 
of  the  country  could  easily  be  reached  and  traversed. 
The  Recollets  had  not  time  before  their  exclusion  to  do 
more  than  touch  at  a  few  places.  After  their  readmis- 
sion  in  1670  they  resumed  their  work  in  Gaspe,  but 
from  1629  to  1670  the  missions  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
Jesuits  and  they  had  stations  as  far  east  as  Ste.  Anne  on 
Cape  Breton  Island.  Descriptions  of  the  country  round 
the  gulf  are  contained  in  the  Jesuit  Relations  from  1636 
onwards. 


394    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Reaching  far  eastward  towards  Europe  the  grim  ram- 
parts of  the  Labrador  coast  tower  steeply  up  against  the 
lashing  surf  of  the  North  Atlantic  and  the  grinding  ice 
thrown  against  them  by  the  Arctic  current  bearing  away 
the  overflow  of  the  polar  ocean.  We  have  seen  in  for- 
mer chapters  that  this  coast  was  well  known  to  the  earliest 
sailors  on  the  western  ocean.  Whalers  soon  found  that 
the  cool  waters  of  the  Labrador  current  were  the  best 
hunting  grounds  for  whales.  Seals  swarmed  down  on  the 
ice  fields,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century 
Canadians  from  Quebec  began  to  establish  sedentary  fish- 
eries along  the  coast  beyond  the  Strait  of  Belle-Isle. 
These  were  checked  by  the  English  conquest,  and  for  a 
while  the  government  fluctuated  between  the  French  law 
of  Quebec  and  the  English  law  of  Newfoundland. 
When  in  1777  the  first  English  settlers  arrived  at  Ham- 
ilton Inlet,  they  found  traces  of  French  establishments, 
abandoned  for  years.  Further  to  the  north  the  Moravian 
Brethren  established  mission  stations.  They  made  the 
first  attempt  in  1764,  and  in  1771  founded  their  first  set- 
tlement at  Nain ;  afterwards  extending  their  stations  from 
Hopedale  on  the  south  (a  little  north  of  Hamilton  Inlet) 
to  Ramah,  near  Nachvak  Inlet,  on  the  north — from  55° 
30'  to  59°  N.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  about  1832 
founded  their  post  at  Rigolet,  at  the  head  of  Hamilton 
Inlet  at  the  narrows  leading  into  the  long  expanse  of 
Lake  Melville. 

From  this  stern  coast  westwards  approximately  to  a 
line  drawn  northwards  up  the  Manicouagan  River 
stretched  the  vast  peninsula  of  Labrador,  a  blank  upon 
the  map  until  the  last  few  years ;  and  even  still,  over  large 
areas,  unexplored — an  enormous  tableland  abounding 
in  rock  and  moss  and  morass.  The  streams  have  cut  no 
deep  drainage  valleys  in  the  hard  rock,  but  fall  over  the 
edges  of  the  plateau  in  swift  rapids  or  cataracts,  barring 
the  advance  of  explorers  through  their  foaming  channels. 
An  explorer  who  in  1862  forced  his  way  120  miles  up 
the  Moisic  River  and  got  a  peep  over  the  edge  of  the 
plateau  reported  that  "  language  fails  to  depict  the  awful 


EXPLORATION   TO   THE   NORTH  395 

desolation  of  the  tableland  of  the  Labrador  peninsula." 
Since  then  we  have  learned  more  of  that  region  and 
think  somewhat  better  of  it.  It  had  to  be  taken  in  reverse 
to  be  understood,  not  stormed  from  the  front,  but  entered 
from  the  rear  by  Lake  Mistassini.  The  interior  table- 
land is  a  network  of  streams  and  lakes,  with  rocks  and 
morass  in  very  truth,  but  also  with  many  forests  of  sub- 
arctic trees.  Even  the  wilderness  relaxes  its  grimness 
when  boldly  faced,  and  a  discovery  of  minerals  would 
tame  the  unfinished  giant-land  of  the  Northeast  as  the 
Yukon  and  Alaska  territories  are  being  overcome  at  the 
Northwest. 

The  first  attempt  to  penetrate  this  region  was  made  by 
Mr.  John  McLean,  an  officer  in  charge  of  Fort  Chimo, 
the  Hudson's  Bay  post  on  Ungava  Bay.  In  the  winter 
of  1838  he  started  with  a  few  men  and  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  post  on  Hamilton 
Inlet.  He  went  across  the  country  to  Lake  Michikamau 
and  thence  by  the  Northwest  River.  The  journey  being 
in  the  depth  of  winter  the  ice  was  an  assistance  in  travel- 
ling, but  the  labour  was  great  and  the  route  was  found 
impracticable  as  a  means  of  regular  communication.  In 
1839  he  made  another  attempt — this  time  in  summer,  with 
canoes.  He  went  by  the  George  River,  and  passing  to 
the  west  of  Lake  Michikamau  crossed  the  divide  into  a 
tributary  of  the  Hamilton  or  Grand  River.  Paddling  care- 
lessly down  the  stream  the  voyagers  heard,  one  evening, 
the  warning  roar  of  a  mighty  cataract.  They  had  come 
upon  the  Grand  Falls,  and  McLean  was  the  first  white 
man  to  see  them  or  even  hear  of  them.  It  was,  he  writes, 
"  one  of  the  grandest  spectacles  in  the  world  " ;  but  he 
had  to  turn  back,  for  not  only  the  fall  itself,  but  the  suc- 
ceeding thirty  miles  of  rapids,  had  to  be  passed,  and  he 
could  find  no  way  round.  The  following  year  he  heard 
from  an  old  Indian  at  Ungava  Bay  of  a  chain  of  small 
lakes  by  which  a  portage  around  the  falls  and  the  canyon 
could  be  made.  In  1841  he  followed  that  route  with 
success,  and  not  only  went  down  to  Hamilton  Inlet,  but 
returned  the  same  way.     The  following  year  he  went 


396    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

again  down  to  the  coast,  but  as  the  post  at  Ungava  was 
soon  after  abandoned  for  a  few  years,  the  route  fell  into 
disuse. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  a  few  years  later  estab- 
lished posts  at  Lakes  Nichicun,  Kaniapiscau,  and  Petitsi- 
kapau.  These  are  key  points  upon  the  central  tableland 
and  unlock  all  the  interior  water  courses.  Whatever 
information  the  company  acquired  was  not  published.  It 
remained  for  Mr.  A.  P.  Low  of  the  Canadian  Geological 
Survey,  in  a  series  of  arduous  explorations  extending 
from  1892  to  1895,  to  reveal  to  the  world  the  geography 
of  the  inner  peninsula.  For  the  most  of  the  time  he  was 
assisted  by  Mr.  D.  L  V.  Eaton,  who  compiled  the  map 
accompanying  his  report.  That  the  officers  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  were  acquainted  with  the  geography 
of  this  region  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  when  at  the 
H.  B.  Co.  post  at  Lake  Nichicun  Low  saw  a  manuscript 
map,  made  in  1842,  showing  the  courses  and  connections 
of  the  great  rivers  upon  the  central  plateau. 

Meantime  most  exaggerated  reports  of  the  Grand  Falls 
of  the  Hamilton,  or  Grand  River  of  Labrador,  had  got 
abroad,  and  indeed  are  still  abroad.  In  a  standard  gaz- 
etteer published  as  late  as  1895  their  height  is  given  as 
"  about  2000  feet,"  for  McLean's  book  has  been  very 
little  known  and  no  other  published  information  existed 
concerning  them.  Not  long  after  McLean's  visit  a  Mr. 
Joseph  McPherson  is  said  to  have  been  conducted  there 
by  an  Iroquois  Indian  attached  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  post 
at  Rigolet,  and  a  missionary  of  the  Oblate  Order,  Father 
Bebel,  did  really -visit  the  Grand  Falls  about  1870,  when 
following  his  wandering  flock,  but  of  this  nothing  was 
publicly  known.  At  last  in  1887  a  bold  attempt  was  made 
by  an  Englishman,  Mr.  R.  F.  Holme.  Misled  into  sup- 
posing the  distance  from  the  sea  to  be  not  more  than  a 
hundred  miles  he  ran  short  of  food,  and  after  a  most 
laborious  effort  had  to  turn  back  at  Lake  Winokapau. 
Incited  by  these  difficulties  two  American  expeditions  set 
out  in  1891.  One  is  known  as  the  Bowdoin  College  ex- 
pedition.    It  was  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Lee. 


EXPLORATION   TO  THE  NORTH  397 

Four  of  the  students  went  up  the  river  without  guides; 
the  rest  sailed  further  along  the  coast.  One  of  the  boats 
of  the  explorers  was  upset  and  the  distance  being  un- 
known, while  provisions  were  short,  two  of  the  party  were 
obliged  to  turn  back.  The  other  two,  Messrs.  Gary  and 
Cole,  continued  on  a  most  difficult  course  along  the  river 
almost  until  they  reached  the  cataract,  but  by  an  acci- 
dent with  their  campfire  in  their  absence  their  boat  and 
outfit  were  burned  and  they  had  no  alternative  but  to 
hurry  back  as  fast  as  possible  on  foot  over  the  whole 
distance. 

The  second  expedition  was  undertaken  by  Mr.  H.  G. 
Bryant  of  Philadelphia  and  Professor  Kenaston  of  Wash- 
ington. They  started  on  August  3  from  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  post  where  the  Northwest  River  falls  in 
at  the  head  of  Lake  Melville.  None  of  the  Indians  around 
the  post  would  go  with  them,  for  they  have  a  supersti- 
tious dread  of  the  falls,  and  believe  that  to  see  them  will 
bring  on  an  early  death.  They  took  with  them  a  young 
Scotchman,  resident  at  the  post,  and  an  Esquimau.  Mon- 
tague, the  Scotchman,  had  been  with  Holme  in  his  plucky 
attempt,  and  knew  the  lower  river  well.  They  hired  at 
the  post  a  strong  river  boat  eighteen  feet  long,  and 
towed  their  canoe  at  the  stern.  They  slowly  and  labori- 
ously worked  up  the  river,  for  the  most  part  by  "  track- 
ing," for  the  current  is  strong  and  there  are  many  rapids, 
until  after  three  weeks'  incessant  toil  they  reached  Big 
Hill.  At  that  point  commences  the  portage  route  round 
the  canyon  and  the  falls  to  the  quiet  water  above.  It  was 
the  portage  which  McLean  had  followed  in  1841.  The 
trail  was  very  indistinct,  for  when  Fort  Chimo  was  re- 
opened communication  by  sea  was  preferred.  After  long 
search  they  found  it,  and  leaving  their  heavy  boat  they 
started  with  their  canoe  through  a  circuit  of  small  lakes. 
That  was  the  reason  they  did  not  meet  Messrs.  Cary  and 
Cole  on  their  way  back,  for  these  two  explorers  followed 
the  river  bank  as  nearly  as  possible.  On  September  2 
they  arrived  at  the  Grand  Falls,  having  struck  across 
from  the  upper  lake,  guided  by  a  column  of  ascending 


398    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

mist  and  by  the  roar  of  the  cataract.  They  were  fortu- 
nate in  being  able  to  make  measurements  and  take  photo- 
graphs of  the  falls,  so  that  by  their  descriptions  and  those 
of  Mr.  Low  a  sufficiently  accurate  idea  may  be  formed  of 
this  wilderness  wonder. 

Mr.  Low  entered  upon  the  tableland  by  way  of  the 
Saguenay,  Lake  St.  John,  and  Lake  Mistassini.  He 
examined  the  country  down  to  Hudson's  Bay  by  the  upper 
Rupert  River  and  the  lower  East  Main  River.  He  then 
followed  up  the  East  Main  River  to  its  source  and  made 
a  portage  to  a  stream  falling  into  Lake  Nichicun.  From 
that  lake  he  passed  by  a  short  portage  into  Lake  Kania- 
piscau  and  followed  down  by  the  river  of  that  name  into 
the  Koksoak,  which  flows  past  Fort  Chimo  into  Ungava 
Bay,  From  Fort  Chimo  he  went  round  by  sea  to  Rigolet 
on  Hamilton  Inlet.  He  passed  the  winter  of  1893-94  at 
the  Northwest  River  at  the  head  of  the  inlet.  From 
thence  he  went  up  the  Hamilton  River,  visited  the  Grand 
Falls,  and  passed  up  the  Ashuanippi  Branch  to  Petitsik- 
apau  Lake.  He  then  explored  the  southern  or  Attikonak 
branch  to  its  head  and  crossed  the  parting  to  the  Romaine 
River,  flowing  southwards.  Finally  he  crossed  over  to  the 
St.  John  River  and  followed  it  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence. It  was  a  very  remarkable  exploration,  and  has  a 
right  to  rank  high  in  the  geographical  history  of  the 
country.  From  north  to  south  and  from  east  to  west  he 
cut  through  the  very  heart  of  the  unknown  region  by 
routes  for  which,  oftentimes,  he  could  get  no  guides. 
His  work  opened  up  289,000  square  miles  of  territory  and 
his  report  covers  the  geology,  botany,  and  zoology  of  the 
country,  not  only  explored,  but  examined.  It  was  a 
journey  in  Labrador  of  2960  miles  by  canoe,  500  miles 
with  dogs,  and  1000  miles  on  foot  over  a  country  bristling 
with  difficulties  and  under  a  severe  climate.  Besides  the 
main  routes  given  above,  the  head-waters  of  the  Mani- 
couagan  and  Outarde  Rivers  were  explored  and  careful 
examinations  were  made  of  the  large  central  lakes  which 
are  the  sources  of  the  great  rivers  of  the  peninsula. 

The  Grand  Falls  mark  a  wide  distinction  in  character 


EXPLORATION   TO   THE   NORTH  399 

between  the  Upper  and  Lower  Hamilton  River.  The 
upper  river,  Hke  all  other  rivers  on  the  great  central  table- 
land of  Labrador,  flows  broadly  on  the  surface  between 
low  banks  fringed  with  a  thick  growth  of  brushwood. 
As  it  approaches  the  fall  the  river  enters  into  a  rock}' 
channel,  which  gradually  narrows.  Down  this  trough  the 
whole  stream  rushes  in  a  steep  descent,  swirling  in 
great  waves  twenty  feet  high,  as  the  ever-narrowing  walla 
compress  it  more  and  more,  until  as  from  a  gigantic 
spout,  only  fifty  yards  in  width,  the  whole  river,  of  a 
volume  as  great  as  the  Ottawa  at  Ottawa  City,  is  projected 
into  space  over  a  fall  302  feet  deep,  to  drop  into  a  cir- 
cular basin  with  steep  walls  of  rock  500  feet  high. 
Thence  it  flows  away,  at  first  at  right  angles,  through  a 
zigzag  canyon  eight  miles  long,  cut  straight  down  from 
the  surface  without  any  preparatory  slope,  where,  hid- 
den from  sight  save  to  an  observer  looking  directly  over, 
it  rages  boiling  down  a  further  descent  of  260  feet. 
Thence  it  issues  out  into  a  valley  deeply  furrowed  into 
the  plain,  from  500  to  800  feet  below  the  general  level, 
and  with  few  intervals  of  quiet  water  rushes  from  rapid 
to  fall  and  fall  to  rapid,  until  it  discharges  at  sea  level 
into  the  upper  arm  of  the  inlet  called  Lake  Melville.  The 
level  of  the  river  as  it  nears  the  fall  is  1660  feet  above  the 
sea.  Twelve  miles  below  it  has  dropped  760  feet  and  it 
falls  the  remaining  900  feet  down  the  remainder  of  its 
course  to  tide  water.  The  total  drop  from  the  central 
plateau  to  the  sea  is  indeed  1660  feet,  the  error  has  been 
in  supposing  that  to  be  done  all  in  one  leap. 

The  story  of  exploration  in  Labrador  closes  with  a 
tragedy,  for  hardly  had  the  preceding  lines  been  written 
when  the  news  came  by  a  courier,  who  reached  the  coast 
on  March  18,  of  the  death  by  starvation  of  Mr.  Leonidas 
Hubbard,  Jr.,  somewhere  beyond  Northwest  River.  Mr. 
Hubbard  was  the  assistant  editor  of  Outing,  a  well- 
known  monthly  magazine  published  in  New  York.  He 
left  for  Labrador  early  in  June,  1903.  He  had  studied  all 
that  was  known  of  the  country,  and  determined  to  learn 
more  of  those  parts  of  it  which  had  not  been  explored. 


400    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

He  had  made  a  cache  of  his  provisions  on  the  Northwest 
River,  and  with  a  companion  and  a  guide  had  pushed  for- 
ward, trusting  to  find  game  on  the  way.  They  found  no 
game,  and  as  starvation  threatened  the  whole  party  they 
started  to  return  to  their  cache.  Hubbard's  strength  gave 
out  and  his  companions  had  to  leave  him  to  hurry  back 
for  food.  They  reached  the  cache  and  hastened  back, 
but  though  absent  for  a  short  time  only  they  found  Hub- 
bard dead.  He  died  on  October  i8,  1903.  His  com- 
panions made  their  way  back  to  the  coast  with  the  body, 
but  could  not  reach  communication  with  the  outer  world 
until  the  following  March. 

We  have  now  traced  the  course  of  discovery  back  to  the 
points  from  whence  it  started — to  Tadoussac,  where 
Chauvin  built  the  first  house,  to  Labrador,  which  Cartier 
called  the  "  land  of  Cain,"  and  to  Cape  Breton  Island,  of 
which  Cabot  brought  back  such  a  glowing  account.  We 
have  followed  up  the  great  avenue  of  waters  to  the  west 
and  reached  the  portals  of  another  west,  to  be  followed 
by  yet  another,  before  we  reach  the  sunset.  League  after 
league  our  forefathers  were  tempted  along  their  arduous 
course  by  the  promise  of  the  great  Southern  Ocean.  The 
men  whose  names  are  now  so  often  on  our  tongues  died 
poor  and  unrewarded.  We  have  entered  into  their  labours 
and  they  have  passed  into  their  rest.  All  we  can  do  is 
not  to  grudge  an  occasional  recognition,  by  commemora- 
tion or  monument,  of  lives  so  laborious  and  achievements 
so  heroic. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

OCCUPATION    OF   THE   ST.    LAWRENCE   VALLEY 

THE  era  of  discovery  closed  with  the  seventeenth 
century.  The  region  of  mystery  moved  west- 
ward, for  the  pathway  of  the  two  great  rivers 
had  been  followed  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  movement  was 
from  Canada, — from  Quebec  and  Montreal, — and  the 
arms  of  France  were  planted  at  the  sources  as  well  as 
at  the  mouths  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi. 
But  while  these  streams  were  the  main  arteries  of  the 
continent  upon  its  Atlantic  side  and  revealed  the  funda- 
mental plan  upon  which  it  was  constructed,  a  great  deal 
remained  to  be  done  before  the  immense  regions  drained 
by  their  tributaries  could  be  fully  known  and  occupied. 
The  eighteenth  century  was  a  period  of  conflict  for  the 
dominion  of  these  two  great  valleys,  and  the  struggle 
commenced  when  the  outposts  of  France  and  England 
met  upon  the  parting  of  their  waters. 

The  physical  conditions  of  the  English  and  French 
colonies  differed  widely. '  For  a  long  time  the  English 
settlers  were  hedged  in  by  the  Allegheny  Mountains  and 
by  a  barrier  of  broad  and  dense  forests  which  concealed 
in  their  leafy  recesses  the  springs  of  the  westward-flowing 
streams.  Gaps  there  were  in  "  the  endless  mountains," 
and  Indian  war  trails  tunnelled  the  forest  wilderness,  but 
they  were  untravelled  by  the  English  and  unknown,  while 
the  light  French  canoes  glided  everywhere  along  the 
interior  waterways  and  their  echoes  rang  with  the  speech 
of  Norman  France.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
strategic  value  of  the  great  westward  trails  in  the  middle 
colonies,  in  Canada  the  streams  were  the  roads  alike  in 
winter  and  summer,  and  the  portages  were  the  strategic 
keys  which  unlocked  the  whole  northland. 

401 


402    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Exploration  along-  the  lower  lakes  ceased  for  a  time 
after  the  recall  in  1682  of  the  Count  de  Frontenac.  His 
incapable  successors  La  Barre  and  Denonville  irritated 
the  Iroquios  by  abortive  hostilities  and  tempted  them  by 
manifestations  of  weakness.  To  gratify  a  passing-  whim 
of  the  French  court  Denonville  treacherously  seized  fifty- 
one  Iroquois  Indians  and  sent  them  to  France  to  work 
in  the  galleys.  They  were  neutral  Indians  residing  on 
the  Bay  of  Quinte  and  were  on  friendly  terms  with  the 
garrison  at  Fort  Frontenac.  The  colony  paid  dearly  for 
this  perfidy.  The  Iroquois  with  profound  craft  dis- 
sembled their  resentment,  until  in  the  night  of  August  4, 
1689,  fifteen  hundred  warriors  landed  at  Lachine  and 
swept  the  Island  of  Montreal  of  every  inhabitant  up  to 
the  palisades  of  the  forts.  More  than  two  hundred  un- 
suspecting settlers  were  killed  and  scalped,  and  one  hun- 
dred were  carried  away  prisoners  to  the  Iroquois  towns. 
It  is  a  dark  and  bloody  day  in  the  annals  of  Canada,  long 
remembered  as  the  "  Massacre  of  Lachine."  While  the 
discouraged  colonists  were  stunned  by  the  suddenness  and 
severity  of  the  blow,  Frontenac  arrived  for  a  second 
term  of  office — the  one  and  only  man  who  could  rally 
them  against  the  exultant  Iroquois.  He  brought  no 
troops,  but  he  brought  back  thirteen  of  the  captives — all 
who  had  survived  the  confinement  and  degrading  labour 
of  the  slave  galleys.  With  these  he  opened  up  negotia- 
tions. 

Never  did  the  colony  stand  in  greater  need,  for  the 
Iroquois  raged  like  demons  along  the  whole  line  of  set- 
tlement and  on  the  river  and  the  lower  lakes.  Frontenac 
found  to  his  disgust  that  the  post  at  Niagara  had  been 
deserted  and  that  Fort  Frontenac  had  been  abandoned  and 
blown  up.  But  the  route  by  the  Ottawa  to  the  upper 
lakes  are  still  available  and  the  French  traders  at  Alich- 
ilimackinac  and  Sault  Ste.  Marie  were  not  intimidated. 
The  narrow  streets  of  Montreal  soon  again  swarmed  with 
life.  One  hundred  and  sixty-five  canoes  laden  with 
furs  brought  down  Ojibways  and  Crecs  from  Lake 
Superior,  Hurons  and  Ottawas  from  Mackinac,  and  the 


%:rft|H.-#       if 


OCCUPATION  OF  THE  VALLEY    403 

Manitoulins,  Pottawatomies  from  Lake  Michigan,  and 
Algonquins  from  Lake  Nipissing,  together  with  French 
fur  traders  and  their  men,  and  in  the  stir  of  reviving  busi- 
ness the  Montrealers  with  characteristic  elasticity  recov- 
ered their  wonted  spirits.  A  great  council  was  held  and 
the  Count  de  Frontenac,  a  nobleman  of  the  court  of 
France  who  had  held  high  command  in  the  royal  army 
and  was  Lieutenant  General  for  the  King,  led  the  war 
dance,  tomahawk  in  hand  and  whooping,  in  spite  of  his 
seventy  years,  with  a  vigour  hardly  surpassed  by  the  wild- 
est savage  of  them  all.  Then  came  the  solemn  war-feast, 
and  two  oxen  and  six  large  dogs  assuaged  the  appetites 
of  the  Indian  chieftains  and  tested  the  politic  com- 
plaisance of  their  distinguished  coryphaeus.  The  fiery  old 
governor  soon  rallied  the  forces  of  the  colonists  and  his 
first  care  was  to  rebuild  La  Salle's  Fort  Frontenac.  Then 
he  carried  the  war  across  Lake  Ontario  into  the  Iroquois 
country,  and  although  the  Indians  escaped  into  the  forests 
he  burned  the  Onondaga  and  Oneida  towns  and  destroyed 
their  stores  of  provisions  for  the  winter.  He  died  in  1698, 
and  his  successors  reaped  the  benefit  of  his  labours,  for 
the  Iroquois  were  so  weakened  by  his  attacks  that  after 
the  peace  of  1701  they  ceased  to  be  formidable.  It  was 
in  fact  with  them  as  with  the  Romans  of  old  whose  policy 
they  so  singularly  reproduced,  the  original  stubborn 
fighting  stock  was  reduced  by  incessant  wars  and  the 
adopted  stock  did  not  possess  the  same  stoical  character- 
istics. 

Peace  with  the  Iroquois  opened  up  again  the  routes  to 
the  west  by  the  lower  lakes — very  fortunately  for  the 
colony,  for  the  Fox  Indians  on  the  Michigan  portages 
began  to  manifest  an  implacable  hostility  to  the  French, 
which  closed  the  route  by  the  Fox  River  and  menaced  the 
Chicago  and  Kankakee  portages.  La  Salle  had  perished, 
but  his  projects  survived  and  access  to  the  Mississippi 
valley  became  the  chief  object  of  the  Canadians.  This 
was  much  more  direct  by  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  than 
by  the  circuitous  route  through  the  Straits  of  Michili- 
mackinac,  for  the  main  affluents  of  the  Ohio  approach 


404    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

very  closely  to  the  shore  of  the  lake.  Great  cities  now 
mark  the  river  mouths  leading  to  the  portages,  and  great 
railways  carry  an  enormous  traffic  along  the  old  lines  of 
canoe  travel.  These  new  routes  were  not  discoveries,  but 
they  now  began  to  be  frequented  and  to  draw  away  from 
the  Ottawa  route  the  main  part  of  the  western  travel. 
Detroit  began  to  supplant  Michilimackinac  as  a  centre  of 
traffic,  and  the  portages  along  the  south  shore  of  Lake 
Erie  were  developed  successively.  It  will  be  convenient 
to  review  the  results  of  exploration  at  the  commencement 
of  the  new  century  and  to  trace  along  its  western  and 
southern  margin  the  complete  definition  of  the  basin  of 
the  great  river  of  Canada. 

Commencing  then  on  the  north  of  Lake  Superior,  near 
the  great  double  divide  where  the  waters  flow  north,  west, 
and  south  to  James'  Bay,  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  Lake 
Superior,  we  find  that  in  1683,  acting  under  orders  of 
Governor  La  Barre,  the  adventurous  Dulhut  had  estab- 
lished a  post  on  Lake  Nipigon.  It  was  a  commanding 
situation,  for  from  it  the  Indians  descending  to  the  Eng- 
lish factories  on  Hudson's  Bay  could  be  headed  ofif,  and 
there  he  stationed  his  younger  brother,  Claude.  Beyond 
this  point  the  Winnipeg  divide  approaches  Lake  Superior 
and  closes  the  St.  Lawrence  basin  in  on  the  west  at  a  dis- 
tance of  only  forty-five  to  sixty  miles.  Dulhut  founded 
his  main  station  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kaministiquia  River, 
now  known  as  Fort  William.  A  century  later  it  was  the 
headquarters  of  the  Northwest  and  Hudson's  Bay  fur 
trading  companies,  for  it  was  the  key  to  the  whole  North- 
west^  and  there  the  brigades  of  canoes  met  and  crossed — 
some  bound  to  Montreal  over  the  waters  of  the  lake,  some 
to  the  Mackenzie  River  basin  and  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and 
some  to  the  Saskatchewan  and  the  great  south  sea. 
There  after  business  was  over  the  barons  of  the  fur 
trade  held  high  carnival  and  exchanged  experiences  of 
perils  by  land  and  by  water — perils  of  hunger,  of  hostile 
Indians,  of  rushing  streams  and  of  sealike  lakes — true 
tales  beyond  the  dreams  of  the  wildest  romancer.  Now 
it  is  the  shipping  point  upon  St.  Lawrence  waters  of  the 


OCCUPATION  OF  THE  VALLEY    405 

Canadian  Pacific  Railway.  From  that  point  Dulhut 
swayed  the  Crees,  Assiniboines,  and  Ojibways,  and  even 
reached  the  Sioux  of  the  Upper  Mississippi.  At  the 
extreme  western  end  of  the  lake  is  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Louis  River,  a  small  stream  considered  to  be  the  source 
of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

South  of  the  lake  was  the  mission  of  La  Pointe,  on 
Chequamegon  Bay,  concerning  which  much  has  been  said 
in  former  chapters.  Although  it  was  abandoned  by  Mar- 
quette and  the  Hurons  the  locality  retained  its  importance 
as  a  centre  of  traffic,  for  it  commanded  the  most  conven- 
ient portages  to  the  upper  Mississippi.  In  later  days  the 
post  of  La  Pointe  was  on  Madaline  Island,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  bay.  The  American  Fur  Company  built  a  post 
there  in  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  in 
1835  Bishop  Baraga  re-established  the  mission  of  St. 
Esprit,  intermitted  for  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  years. 
Henry's  post,  however,  was  on  the  old  site  on  the  main- 
land, and  though  the  position  of  the  old  La  Pointe  cannot 
now  be  precisely  fixed,  it  must  not  be  confounded  with 
the  comparatively  recent  La  Pointe  of  existing  maps.  At 
the  eastern  end  of  Lake  Superior  is  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  con- 
cerning which  enough  has  already  been  said,  and  from 
thence  the  route  by  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Huron  and 
French  River,  Lake  Nipissing,  and  the  Ottawa  to  Mont- 
real was  well  known  and  had  been  frequented  from  the 
earliest  days  of  the  colony. 

Sufficient  has  also  been  said  of  Michilimackinac,  the 
gateway  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  of  the  three  main  routes 
to  the  Mississippi  from  its  shores.  The  route  by  Green 
Bay  and  Fox  River,  and  that  by  the  Chicago  portage  into 
the  Des  Plaines  branch  of  the  Illinois  River,  have  been 
frequently  mentioned.  On  the  Illinois  River  Tonty  held 
the  fort  of  St.  Louis  during  the  absence  and  for  some 
time  after  the  death  of  La  Salle.  Passing  round  the  end 
of  the  lake  to  its  eastern  shore  was  the  third  route,  that  by 
the  St.  Joseph  River,  which,  as  has  been  shown,  was  much 
used  by  La  Salle.  This  stream  divides  into  two  branches ; 
the  eastern  fork  leads  to  an  affluent  of  the  Wabash  and 


4o6    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

thence  into  the  Ohio,  and  the  southern  leads  to  the  Kan- 
kakee, a  tributary  of  the  IlHnois.  La  Salle  built  his  Fort 
St.  Joseph  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  but  in  171 2  the 
French  built  another  of  the  same  name  at  the  portage  on 
the  upper  river  near  the  present  town  of  South  Bend, 
Indiana.  Although  it  commanded  a  network  of  interior 
communication,  it  soon  was  superseded  by  more  direct 
routes  to  the  Mississippi.  There  were  usually  missions 
at  all  established  posts  and  the  country  around  soon  be- 
came well  known. 

All  thoughts  in  Canada  were  now  turned  to  the  Miss- 
issippi. At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  was 
known  in  its  full  extent.  As  early  as  1689  Nicholas 
Perrot  had  forts  on  the  upper  river  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Wisconsin  and  on  Lake  Pepin,  The  missionaries  Mon- 
tigny,  St.  Cosme,  Davion,  and  Thaumur  de  la  Source, 
starting  from  Michilimackinac  and  passing  over  the 
Chicago  portage,  went  down  in  1699  as  far  as  the  present 
Baton  Rouge,  establishing  missions.  In  1700  Father 
Gravier  followed  by  the  same  route  to  the  gulf,  and  in  the 
same  year  Le  Sueur  went  from  the  gulf  up  the  river 
as  far  as  the  present  St.  Paul  and  some  distance  up  the 
Minnesota  River.  In  the  same  years  (1699- 1702)  expe- 
ditions from  France  under  Iberville  and  Bienville,  two 
brothers  of  the  Le  Moyne  family  of  Montreal,  so  cele- 
brated in  Canadian  history,  founded  Biloxi  and  Mobile 
on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  guard  the  mouths  of  the  Miss- 
issippi. The  mission  priests  from  the  posts  on  the 
Mississippi  went  down  to  visit  the  new  settlers,  and  the 
chivalrous  Tonty,  abandoning  by  royal  order  his  Fort  of 
St.  Louis  on  the  Illinois,  went  down  to  another  Fort  St. 
Louis  at  Mobile,  to  die  there  in  1704.  At  many  places 
along  the  river  Canadians  had  settled  among  the  Indians. 
The  problem  of  its  true  source  among  the  myriads  of 
Minnesota  lakes  remained  in  dispute  until  very  recent 
years,  but  when  the  eighteenth  century  opened  the  river 
was  known  in  its  whole  course.  It  was  to  open  more 
direct  access  to  it  that  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie 
was  explored. 


OCCUPATION  OF  THE  VALLEY    407 

The  foundation  of  Detroit  marked  the  change.  In 
1686  Dulhut,  under  Denonville's  orders,  had  estabHshed 
a  temporary  post  there  with  a  garrison  of  fifty  men,  but 
it  was  not  until  1701  that  La  Mothe  Cadillac  made  a 
permanent  settlement  and  became  the  founder  of  the 
city.  By  his  influence  among  the  Indians  and  the  post's 
proximity  to  the  Erie  portages  it  grew  at  the  expense 
of  Michilimackinac,  and  the  southern  waters  of  Lake 
Huron  ceased  to  be  frequented.  This  was  the  cause  of 
the  lateness  of  exploration  and  settlement  in  the  Huron 
tract  in  Canada  and  on  the  peninsula  of  Michigan. 

Following  the  geographical  development  of  the  coun- 
try, we  must  cross  the  southern  part  of  the  peninsula  of 
Michigan  to  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Erie.  There  the 
City  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee  River, 
fifty-three  miles  east  of  Detroit,  marks  the  entrance  to  the 
route  by  the  Wabash  leading  by  the  Ohio  into  the  Miss- 
issippi. This  is  the  most  direct  and  soon  became  the 
chief  route  of  travel.  It  is  important  also  from  its 
extensive  interior  communications.  The  Maumee  River 
is  formed  by  two  branches,  the  St.  Mary  and  St.  Joseph, 
uniting  at  the  present  Fort  Wayne  (Indiana),  and  a 
portage  of  eight  miles  at  that  point  leads  to  a  branch  of 
the  Wabash ;  but  by  following  up  the  St.  Joseph  River  a 
short  portage  leads  to  the  other  St.  Joseph  (for  both  rise 
in  Hillsdale  County,  Michigan),  and  by  that  means  a 
voyager  could  either  pass  down  to  La  Salle's  Fort  at  St. 
Joseph  on  Lake  Michigan,  or  might  carry  his  canoe  into 
the  Kankakee  at  La  Salle's  portage  and  so  drop  down  into 
the  Illinois.  The  route  became  so  important  that  several 
forts  were  built  upon  it — Fort  Miami  at  the  Wabash 
portage.  Fort  Ouitanon,  built  in  1720,  on  the  upper  river, 
and  Vincennes,  nearer  to  the  junction  with  the  Ohio, 
founded  perhaps  as  early  as  1702,  but  certainly  before 
1709.  In  that  year  Bissot  de  Vincennes  returned  from 
the  West  to  Montreal  and  sold  out  his  interest  in  a 
seigniory  on  the  Labrador  coast. 

Eastwards  fifty-seven  miles  along  the  lake  shore  is 
the  present  city  of  Sandusky,  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  a 


4o8    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

river  of  the  same  name,  from  the  head  of  which,  by  a 
short  portage,  the  Scioto  River  is  reached.  The  next 
point  to  be  noted  is  Cleveland,  fifty-six  miles  further,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga,  leading  to  a  portage  into  the 
Tuscarawas  and  Muskingum  rivers,  draining  into  the 
Ohio.  These  two  routes  were  not  so  much  frequented  as 
the  others. 

The  Ohio  divide  approaches  the  lake  shore  closer  and 
closer  as  it  passes  to  the  east,  and  French  Creek,  a  branch 
of  the  Allegheny,  rises  near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Erie,  Pennsylvania,  ninety-five  miles  east  of  Cleveland, 
where  the  Island  of  Presque  Isle  makes  an  admirably 
sheltered  harbour.  This  was  a  very  important  route,  for 
it  led  down  to  the  very  spot  where  the  English  were 
beginning  to  cross  the  mountains  into  the  Ohio  valley. 
The  Allegheny  is  the  northern  of  the  two  main  forks 
which  unite  to  form  the  Ohio  at  the  site  of  the  present 
Pittsburgh,  where  in  1754  the  Virginians  built  a  fort 
which  the  French  seized  the  same  year  and  named  Fort 
Duquesne.  In  that  obscure  spot  in  the  North  American 
woods  originated  the  seven  years'  war  which  transferred 
to  England  the  dominion  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley,  and 
there,  as  a  major  in  the  service  of  the  English  king, 
George  Washington  struck  the  first  blow  in  the  fateful 
contest.  Last  of  the  Erie  routes  is  the  portage  to  Chau- 
tauqua Lake  in  the  extreme  west  of  New  York  State. 
The  outlet  of  this  beautiful  lake  is  one  of  the  sources 
of  the  Allegheny,  It  is  only  eight  miles  distant  from 
the  Lake  Erie  shore,  but  its  level  is  726  feet  higher 
and  the  portage  is  steep.  Fort  Le  Boeuf  guarded 
the  end  of  the  Presqu'ile  portage  at  French  Creek, 
and  Fort  Venango  at  the  junction  of  French  Creek  with 
the  Allegheny  River  controlled  both  routes.  On  the  lake 
shore  Fort  Presqu'ile  was  built  in  1752.  The  portage 
by  Presqu'ile  was  twenty  miles  long,  but  much  less  labo- 
rious than  that  by  Chautauqua  Lake.  This  route  and 
that  by  the  Wabash  were  the  most  used  of  all  the  routes 
to  the  Mississippi  valley,  as  is  evident  by  the  number  of 
forts  guarding  them.    In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 


ss   !-;»-    ''*"'- J^''    --/•      m  ^  -  _      ^^^p.>       V^_    ,^    ,^     C""^ 


Quaint  conceptions  of  Canada  m  A.  D.  1715-  The  view 
of  tlie  Falls  of  Niagara  in  the  background  is  adapted 
from  Hennepin's  book.  In  the  front  are  beavers  building 
a  dam.  Some  are  cutting  down  trees  ;  others  in  a  procession 
are  carrving  pats  of  clay  on  their  tails 

(From  Herman  Moll's  Map) 


OCCUPATION  OF  THE  VALLEY    409 

century  the  Ohio  basin  adjoining  the  St.  Lawrence  was 
well  known  to  the  French,  and  the  English  traders  were 
beginning  to  pass  over  the  mountains.  To  check  their  in- 
roads the  French  Governor,  La  Galissoniere,  sent  Celeron 
de  Bienville  with  a  party  and  a  notary  as  witnesses  to  a 
renewal  of  possession  of  the  whole  region  in  the  most  for- 
mal way.  He  carried  with  him  a  number  of  metal  plates 
engraved  with  the  claims  of  France,  which  he  buried  at 
the  chief  points  of  his  route.  He  went  by  the  Chautauqua 
portage  and  passed  down  the  Allegheny  into  the  Ohio, 
which  he  followed  to  the  Great  Miami.  He  went  up  the 
last  stream  and  made  a  portage  to  the  Maumee  and 
descended  by  it  to  Lake  Erie. 

We  have  seen  in  a  previous  chapter  that  La  Salle 
erected  a  small  post  at  the  Niagara  portage.  That  had 
been  given  up  when  in  1687  the  governor,  Denonville, 
after  summoning  to  his  aid  in  his  inglorious  Iroquois 
expedition  all  the  French  from  the  far  West,  ordered  Dul- 
hut,  Durantaye,  Tonty,  and  De  Troyes  to  build  and  garri- 
son a  fort  at  Niagara.  Garrison  life  did  not  suit  such 
rovers,  and  one  after  another  left.  In  1688  the  remainder 
of  the  garrison  abandoned  the  fort  by  the  governor's 
order,  and  the  Senecas  were  once  more  relieved  of  the 
presence  of  white  men  at  a  place  which  they  watched  most 
jealously.  Joncaire,  a  half-breed  Seneca  in  the  service  of 
the  French,  settled  there  in  1721,  and  in  that  year  Father 
Charlevoix  on  his  journey  up  the  lakes  lodged  in  his 
cabin.  In  1726  Joncaire  got  permission  to  build  a  fort, 
and  the  French  held  and  strengthened  it,  for  it  was  a  most 
important  strategic  point  and  barred  the  English  traders 
from  the  upper  lakes.  This  the  English  resented,  the  more 
keenly  inasmuch  as,  through  their  alliance  with  the  Iro- 
quois, they  laid  claim  to  an  exclusive  influence  over  their 
territory — such  a  claim  as  would  now  be  set  up  in  what 
is  called  a  sphere  of  influence. 

Following  along  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  the 
Genesee  River  has  already  been  indicated  as  the  probable 
route  of  La  Salle's  first  voyage  down  the  Ohio.  Charle- 
voix described  it,  in  1721,  from  descriptions  of  the  French 


4IO    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

officers,  and  they  evidently  knew  it  in  its  whole  length — ■ 
not  only  the  falls  on  its  upper  reaches,  but  the  ultimate 
portage  to  the  Allegheny.  Both  rivers  rise  in  Potter 
County,  Pennsylvania,  and  not  far  away  the  springs  of 
the  Susquehanna,  flowing  into  the  Atlantic,  overlap. 
From  the  Genesee  eastward  the  water  south  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  divide  ceases  to  flow  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  drains  by  the  Susquehanna,  Delaware,  and  Mohawk 
rivers  down  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Allegheny  Moun- 
tains into  the  Atlantic.  From  Niagara  to  Lake  Cham- 
plain — from  the  Seneca  to  the  Mohawk  towns — the  great 
Iroquois  trail  passed,  well  known  from  the  earliest  days 
of  the  colony  down  even  to  our  time,  for  the  main  road 
still  follows  it.  The  English  as  an  offset  to  Niagara  built 
a  fort  at  Oswego,  from  whence  they  were  extending  their 
trade  across  Lake  Ontario  to  Lake  Huron  by  the  Toronto 
portages.  The  French  replied  by  building  Fort  Rouille 
on  the  site  of  the  present  Toronto. 

All  these  routes  of  access  or  exit  to  the  valley  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  were  of  minor  importance  in  comparison 
with  the  avenue  by  Lakes  George  and  Champlain.  and 
their  outlet,  the  Richelieu  River.  That  was  the  high- 
road between  Canada  and  the  English  colonies  to  the 
south,  and  invading  armies  passed  both  ways  during  the 
constant  struggle  for  empire,  for  a  broad  and  deep  nav- 
igable waterway  extends  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
far  into  the  present  United  States.  The  heads  of  Lakes 
George  and  Champlain  are  close  to  the  sources  of  the 
Hudson,  and  the  water-parting  is  low.  Large  steamers 
may  now  ply  from  St.  Johns  on  the  Richelieu,  only 
twenty-seven  miles  from  Montreal,  to  Whitehall,  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  In  the  seventeenth  century  the 
river  was  known  as  Riviere  aux  Iroquois,  for  it  led  to 
the  heart  of  the  Mohawk  country.  The  route  was 
studded  with  forts,  both  English  and  French,  and  the 
whole  region  is  rich  in  romantic  and  historical  associa- 
tions. Additional  importance  was  attached  to  this  route 
because  it  led  to  the  Mohawk  River.  By  following  up 
the  Mohawk  to  a  short  portage  of  over  one  mile  the 


OCCUPATION  OF  THE  VALLEY    411 

traveller  could  cross  into  Wood  Creek,  flowing  into 
Oneida  Lake,  and  from  thence  down  the  Oswego  River 
to  Lake  Ontario.  Fort  Stanwix  was  built  on  the  portage 
where  the  city  of  Rome  now  stands — a  spot  full  of  stir- 
ring historical  associations,  smothered  under  a  venerable 
Old  World  name,  meaningless  there.  Oswego  on  the 
lake  shore  was  strongly  fortified  by  the  English.  At  the 
present  time,  when  so  much  is  said  about  expeditionary 
forces,  it  may  be  useful  to  recall  the  fact  that  Amherst 
in  1760  assembled  his  main  army  at  Oswego  by  this  route, 
and  from  thence  went  down  the  St.  Lawrence  with  ii,ooo 
men  and  822  boats  and  batteaux  to  the  attack  of  Montreal. 
This  immense  flotilla  ran  all  the  rapids  of  the  river  to 
Lachine,  and  though  a  few  batteaux  were  wrecked  the 
success  of  the  expedition  testified  to  the  rare  military 
skill  of  its  leaders. 

East  of  Lake  Champlain  the  Connecticut  River  was  the 
main  avenue  for  French  and  Indian  raids  upon  the  back 
settlements  of  the  English  colonies.  Otter  Creek,  which 
falls  into  Lake  Champlain  opposite  Ticonderoga,  was  a 
common  route,  and  Onion,  now  called  Winooski  River, 
was  also  followed.  There  were  routes  from  the  St. 
Francis  River  and  Lake  Memphremagog  leading  to  the 
sources  of  the  Connecticut,  but  they  were  laborious  and 
used  mainly  by  the  Abenaqui  Indians  in  their  merciless 
war  parties  against  the  hated  New  Englanders. 

The  historic  portage  route  from  Quebec  to  New  Eng- 
land has  been  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter.  It  was 
up  the  Chaudiere  River  opposite  Quebec  and  through 
Lake  Megantic  to  its  source,  then  by  a  portage  across 
the  height  of  land  to  Dead  River, — a  branch  of  the  Kenne- 
bec,— and  down  the  Kennebec  to  the  sea  near  the  present 
Portland,  Maine.  The  route  was  well  known  to  the 
Jesuits,  who  served  their  coast  missions  by  it,  and  Father 
Druillettes  several  times  passed  down  that  way  on  his 
errands  to  Boston.  There  was  nothing  surprising  in 
Arnold's  expedition  to  Quebec  by  that  route  in  1775. 
The  portage  had  been  "  blazed  "  and  could  not  have  been 
missed.     The  feat  has  been  greatly  exaggerated  in  the 


412    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

books  of  history.  Below  Quebec  there  were  many  routes 
leading  south  to  the  sea.  That  chiefly  followed  was  by 
the  Riviere  du  Loup  and  a  portage  to  Lake  Temiscouata, 
from  whence  the  Madawaska  led  into  the  River  St.  John. 
It  was  known  from  the  earliest  years  of  French  discovery. 
The  portage  routes  between  Chaleur  Bay  and  the  St. 
Lawrence  were  well  known  also,  but  the  peninsula  of 
Gaspe  was  not  explored.  It  is  a  rough  mountain  table- 
land, and  until  it  was  examined  by  Messrs.  Macoun  and 
Low  of  the  Geological  Survey,  twenty  years  ago,  little 
was  known  about  the  interior  of  that  region. 

In  this  chapter  and  the  one  immediately  preceding,  the 
water-parting  of  the  St.  Lawrence  basin  has  been  traced 
throughout  its  whole  length  and  its  relations  to  the 
adjoining  river  basins  have  been  shown.  When  the 
French  handed  Canada  over  to  the  English  Crown  it  was 
a  definite  and  mapped  country  very  much  larger  than  it 
is  now.  The  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  upper  Mississippi — 
including  the  present  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota — formed  part  of  it, 
for  the  whole  region  had  been  discovered  from  Canada 
and  was  governed  from  Quebec.  After  the  conquest 
came  the  Indian  war  stirred  up  by  Pontiac,  and  then  fol- 
lowed the  war  of  the  American  Revolution. 

After  the  peace  of  1783  those  in  the  thirteen  revolted 
colonies  who  had  sided  with  the  Crown  were  proscribed 
and  their  property  was  confiscated.  Then  began  the  settle- 
ment of  the  western  part  of  Canada,  now  known  as  the 
Province  of  Ontario.  The  French  grants  extended  as 
far  as  Coteau  du  Lac  on  Lake  St.  Francis,  forty  miles 
above  Montreal ;  beyond  that  was  a  forest  wilderness. 
The  military  posts  existed,  but  there  was  not  one  settler 
until  Detroit  was  reached.  There  were  a  few  farms  on 
the  Detroit  River,  and  west  of  that,  excepting  the  military 
posts,  was  wilderness  again.  The  great  immigration 
commenced  in  1783.  The  exiles  with  their  families 
arrived  on  foot,  bringing  their  scanty  baggage  on  carts 
— some  of  them  all  the  way  from  the  Carolinas.  They 
crossed  Lake  Ontario  in  open  boats,  coasting  along  the 


OCCUPATION  OF  THE  VALLEY    413 

shore  and  camping  at  night.  Then  came  the  surveyors, 
who  laid  off  township  after  township  on  the  river,  com- 
mencing where  the  French  grants  ended ;  continuing  at 
the  present  Kingston  and  on  the  Bay  of  Quinte  and 
extending  their  surveys  rapidly  westwards  along  Lakes 
Ontario  and  Erie  as  the  loyalist  regiments  were  disbanded. 
It  was  not  exploration,  it  was  settlement.  The  story  of 
the  struggle  with  the  wilderness  is  too  long  to  narrate. 
It  is  full  of  courage  and  devotion,  but  it  does  not  fall 
within  our  scheme. 

The  loyalist  settlers  had  been  driven  from  the  lands 
where  were  the  roads  and  bridges  they  had  helped  to 
build.  Everything  was  to  be  done  over  again,  and  they 
set  bravely  to  work  to  tame  the  wilderness.  Attempts 
were  made  to  improve  the  channel  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
close  to  the  shore  as  early  as  1779.  A  little  later  the  pro- 
jecting points  of  the  river  banks  were  cut  through  and 
boats  of  light  draught  were  "  tracked  up "  at  places 
where,  in  the  Frencli  period,  portages  were  necessary. 
Gradually  these  cuts  were  improved,  and  the  present  mag- 
nificent system  of  canals  was  evolved,  until  a  chain  of 
canals  opened  up,  for  vessels  drawing  fourteen  feet,  a 
stretch  of  1274  miles  of  inland  navigation;  so  that  from 
the  quay  opposite  Dulhut's  old  home  in  Montreal  a 
steamer  could  pass,  without  breaking  bulk,  to  Port 
Arthur  at  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  the  headquarters  of 
his  busy  life  in  the  West.  The  last  to  be  completed  was 
the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  canal  on  the  Canada  side — a  great 
work,  consisting  of  one  lock  900  feet  long  by  60  feet 
wide  and  with  20  feet  depth  of  water.  The  route  from 
Lake  Simcoe  to  Lake  Ontario  which  Champlain  followed 
with  the  Huron  war  party  is  being  rapidly  improved  by 
a  system  of  works,  and  proposals  are  entertained  for  a 
series  of  canals  to  overcome  the  portages  along  the 
Ottawa  and  the  French  rivers  to  the  Georgian  Bay  of 
Lake  Huron,  up  which  Champlain  went,  in  1615,  on  his 
visit  to  the  Huron  country. 

In  1 791  Upper  Canada,  now  Ontario,  was  set  off  from 
the  French  province  of  Lower  Canada  as  a  separate  gov- 


414    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

ernment  under  English  laws.  The  first  survey  of  the 
harbour  of  the  present  Toronto  was  made  in  1793.  Two 
wigwams  of  IMississauga  Indians  were  then  the  sole  fore- 
runners of  the  crowds  which  hurry  along  the  streets  of 
the  busy  capital  of  Ontario. 

At  the  end  of  the  portage  where  Jolliet  and  La  Salle 
met  the  city  of  Hamilton  now  stands.  The  lakes  are 
covered  with  steamboats  and  barges,  railways  run  along 
the  rivers  and  centre  in  the  strategic  points  of  the  old  por- 
tages, the  forests  are  replaced  by  farms,  and  the  lumber- 
men have  to  go  up  to  the  height  of  land  on  the  north ; 
but  the  process  from  the  French  times  was  one  of  survey 
and  settlement.  The  story  does  not  belong  to  geography, 
but  to  history,  and  in  the  pages  of  the  historians  it  should 
be  sought. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

OCCUPATION    OF    THE    ATLANTIC    COAST 

IN  previous  chapters  the  discovery  and  exploration  of 
the  Acadian  coast  have  been  narrated  up  to  the  first 
settlement  in  1604,  by  De  Monts,  Champlain,  and 
Poutrincourt.  The  exploration  of  the  coast,  not 
only  of  the  Atlantic,  but  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  from 
the  date  of  discovery  was  carried  on  continuously  by  the 
fishermen  of  Western  Europe.  One  after  another  the  bays 
and  creeks  and  rivers  were  searched  out,  as  prospects  of  a 
bountiful  catch  of  fish  and  profitable  trade  Avith  the 
natives  presented  themselves,  until  all  of  a  sudden  we  find 
in  Champlain's  maps  complete  and  fairly  correct  outlines 
of  all  the  coast  of  Acadia  and  Newfoundland.  While  he 
had  himself  coasted  nearly  the  whole  of  Acadia,  Cham- 
plain  made  use  of  information  derived  from  all  sources. 
In  his  first  map  (1610)  there  is,  however,  no  sign  of 
Prince  Edward  Island ;  in  the  second,  bearing  upon  it 
the  date  1612,  is  a  small,  round  island  off  the  north  coast 
of  Nova  Scotia,  marked  Ille  St.  Jean,  and  a  legend  states 
that  the  author  had  not  visited  that  coast ;  but  in  the  latest 
map — that  of  1632 — Isle  St.  Jean  is  laid  down  of  full 
size  and  in  correct  position,  although  there  is  no  record 
of  Champlain  ever  having  been  there.  These  maps  indi- 
cate that  only  between  1608  and  1632  the  Island  of  St. 
John  (Prince  Edward  Island)  was  recognised  as  sepa- 
rated from  the  mainland  of  Acadia. 

The  settlement  of  Poutrincourt  at  Port  Royal  was 
scattered  and  destroyed  in  16 13  by  an  English  expedi- 
tion from  Virginia,  and  for  nearly  thirty  years  Acadia 
was  the  theatre  of  much  romance  and  much  history,  but 
of  little  recorded  exploration.  The  French,  driven  out  of 
Port  Royal,  did  not  all  leave  Acadia,  but  some  retired 

415 


4i6    XHE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

among'  the  Indians  and  married  Indian  women.  The 
attention  of  the  English  was,  however,  directed  towards 
the  country — or,  to  be  precise,  the  attention  of  the  Scotch 
— for  in  162 1  James  I.,  as  King  of  Scotland,  with  the 
concurrence  of  the  Privy  Council  of  Scotland,  granted 
a  charter  to  Sir  William  Alexander  for  an  immense 
region,  including-  all  the  present  Maritime  Provinces  of 
Canada  with  the  eastern  part  of  the  Province  of  Quebec. 
An  abortive  attempt  was  made  in  1628  by  Alexander's 
son  to  found  a  Scotch  settlement  at  Port  Royal.  They 
built  a  fort  on  the  site  of  Champlain's  fort,  but  all  that 
commemorates  the  attempt  is  the  name  Nova  Scotia  and 
the  empty  title,  "  Baronet  of  Nova  Scotia,"  still  borne  by 
many  noble  families  in  Scotland.  At  the  peace  of  St. 
Germain-en-Laye  Acadia  was  restored  to  France  and  the 
Scotch  settlers  returned  to  Scotland,  though  it  is  main- 
tained that  a  few  of  them  remained  with  the  Indians. 
The  history  immediately  succeeding  is  confused.  Bien- 
court,  son  and  heir  of  the  original  grantee,  Poutrincourt, 
transferred  his  rights  to  Charles  de  La  Tour,  to  whose 
father,  Claude  de  La  Tour  (who  became  an  English 
subject  and  a  Baronet  of  Nova  Scotia),  Sir  William 
Alexander  transferred  a  portion  of  what  he  considered  his 
rights  under  the  Scottish  patent.  The  younger  La  Tour 
(Charles)  had  a  post  at  Cape  Sable,  and  held  it  for  the 
French  Crown  against  his  father,  notwithstanding  which 
proof  of  loyalty  the  French  King  superseded  him  and 
sent  out  as  Governor  Isaac  de  Razilly,  who  founded  a 
post  at  La  Heve.  In  the  meantime  Charles  de  La  Tour 
had  removed  his  establishment  to  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
John  River — the  site  of  the  present  city  of  that  name. 
When  Razilly  died,  in  1636,  he  left  his  interests  in  Nova 
Scotia  to  d'Aulnay  Charnisay,  who  was  appointed  by  the 
French  King.  Private  war  ensued,  and  Charnisay 
besieged  the  fort  at  St.  John,  which  in  her  husband's 
absence  was  bravely  defended  by  Madame  de  La  Tour. 
Treason  led  to  the  surrender  of  the  fort  and  treachery 
led  to  the  breach  of  the  conditions  of  surrender.  The 
garrison  were  all  hanged,  and  the  high-spirited  lady  was 


View  from   the  site   of  tlie  old   Frencli   Fort  at  1  i 
across    the    Basin.      Champlain's   settleniLii 


Ro}al   (Annapolis) — Kjoking  down  the  river  and 
as   on  the   opposite   side   and   lower  down 


THE  ATLANTIC   COAST        417 

forced  to  witness,  with  a  rope  round  her  own  neck,  the 
execution  of  her  faithful  servants.  She  died  shortly 
after  the  indignity,  and  Charnisay  was  drowned  five  years 
later  in  the  Annapolis  River.  It  was  he  who  transferred 
the  settlement  to  the  present  site  of  the  town  of  Annapo- 
lis. This  quiet  little  town  of  to-day  was  a  very  storm 
centre  in  the  seventeenth  century.  It  was  captured  by 
Sedgwick  in  1654  by  the  order  of  Cromwell — it  Vas 
restored  in  1668  by  Charles  II. ;  it  was  captured  again  by 
Phips  in  1690  by  order  of  William  III.,  and  was  restored 
at  the  Treaty  of  Ryswick  in  1697;  it  was  captured  again 
by  Nicholson  in  17 10  for  Queen  Anne,  and  at  last,  in 
1713,  its  destiny  was  settled  at  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  when 
Acadia  was  ceded  to  the  English  Crown. 

Among  those  who  came  to  Acadia  with  De  Razilly 
was  Nicholas  Denys,  a  man  of  different  stamp — a  man 
of  peace,  a  coloniser  and  organiser.  While  Razilly  lived 
at  his  post  at  La  Heve  Denys  carried  on  a  shore  fishery 
at  Port  Rossignol  (now  Liverpool),  but  Charnisay  was 
an  impossible  neighbour  and  Denys  removed  to  the  east- 
ern end  of  Nova  Scotia  and  established  posts  at  Cheda- 
bucto  (Guysborough),  at  St.  Peter's  and  St.  Anne's  on 
Cape  Breton  Island,  and  at  Miscou  far  up  the  gulf  at  the 
southern  point  of  the  opening  of  Chaleur  Bay.  At  these 
posts  he  made  clearings  and  plantations,  and  built  forts 
for  their  protection.  His  thorough  acquaintance  with  the 
country  is  manifest  by  the  admirable  situation  of  his 
establishments.  At  Miscou  he  secured  the  fisheries  of 
Chaleur  Bay,  so  productive  that  its  Indian  name  was 
"  sea  of  fish."  At  St.  Peter's  the  Bras  d'Or,  which 
occupies  the  centre  of  the  island,  is  separated  from  the 
outer  sea  by  an  isthmus  only  a  mile  wide,  across  which  he 
made  a  road ;  and  his  post  at  St.  Anne's,  at  the  other  end 
of  the  Bras  d'Or,  commanded  the  entrance  from  the 
ocean.  Denys  held  his  grant  from  the  King  of  France. 
It  was  dated  in  1654,  and  extended  from  Cape  Canso  in 
Nova  Scotia  to  Cape  Rosier  in  Gaspe.  He  wrote  a 
volume,  published  at  Paris  in  1672  with  a  map,  describing 
all  the  region.     The  coal  of  Cape  Breton  was  first  ex- 


4i8    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

ploited  by  him — not  a  difficult  task,  however,  for  it  crops 
out  on  the  sea  shore.  Denys  stands  out  an  admirable 
type  of  organising  coloniser  in  a  period  of  confusion. 

Under  the  French  rule  the  Acadians  had  been  over- 
governed  ;  but  they  prospered  under  the  sleepy  govern- 
ment of  the  little  English  garrison  at  Port  Royal 
(Annapolis).  Their  clearings  spread  along  the  valley  of 
the  Annapolis  River  and  the  shores  of  the  Basin  of  Minas 
and  the  head  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  but  they  never  liked 
the  English,  whom  they  considered  to  be  heretics,  and 
they  inspired  the  Indians  with  the  same  feeling.  They 
dwelt  in  constant  hope  that  the  country  would  be  again 
restored  to  France,  and  in  the  meantime  they  did  as  they 
liked  and  paid  no  taxes.  At  last  the  British  Government 
decided  to  occupy  Nova  Scotia  strongly,  and  in  1749 
founded  the  city  of  Halifax.  The  expedition  included 
all  classes  of  society  and  artificers  in  all  trades.  The 
dreams  of  the  Acadians  received  a  rude  shock,  for  they 
never  expected  the  English  to  settle  in  Acadia,  and 
indeed  under  the  influence  of  the  French  in  Canada  and 
Cape  Breton,  and  being  very  ignorant  and  simple  in 
their  isolation,  they  even  doubted  the  right  of  the  English 
to  occupy  the  country.  The  pitiful  story  of  the  expatria- 
tion of  the  Acadians  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of 
this  volume — it  is  long  and  difficult  to  narrate  with 
justice,  and  full  of  sorrow  and  tears.  Then  came  the 
recoil  of  Frontenac's  and  Vaudreuil's  system  of  terror- 
ising the  English  frontier  by  war  parties  of  Indians  led 
by  Frenchmen.  The  aftermath  of  the  bloody  raids  of 
Schenectady,  Salmon  Falls,  and  Casco,  of  Deerfield, 
Haverhill,  and  many  other  English  settlements,  fell  upon 
this  unfortunate  people.  The  plan  was  conceived  in 
Massachusetts  and  colonial  troops  carried  it  out. 

The  lands  of  the  expelled  Acadian  French  were  slowly 
taken  up,  for  the  Micmac  Indians  scalped  every  English- 
man who  strayed  outside  the  protection  of  the  forts,  but 
settlers  came  in  after  the  peace  of  1763,  and  after  the 
Revolutionary  War  large  numbers  of  loyalist  refugees 
and  disbanded  troops  settled  in  Nova   Scotia.     Lunen- 


THE  ATLANTIC   COAST        419 

burg-  was  settled  by  Germans  in  1753,  Pictou  and  Antig- 
onish  by  Scotch  Highlanders  about  1773.  Colonel 
Robert  Morse  of  the  Royal  Engineers  wrote  in  1784  a 
full  description  of  Nova  Scotia  in  its  widest  sense, 
including  all  Acadia.  He  found  settlements  dotted  all 
along  the  shores  of  the  peninsula  and  mainland,  and  since 
then  the  settlement  of  the  province  has  steadily  pro- 
ceeded. There  are  unsettled  parts  in  the  interior,  biit  as 
the  peninsula  is  nowhere  more  than  seventy-five  miles 
across,  and  deep  inlets  indent  the  shores,  and  rivers  and 
lakes  lead  into  the  interior,  the  country  is  well  known 
to  sportsmen  and  lumbermen  and  cannot  be  called  un- 
explored. Similar  conditions  exist  generally  in  all  the 
provinces.  Exploration  was  early  completed.  Every- 
where the  rivers  and  streams  and  lakes  covered  the  forest 
wilderness  with  a  network  of  roads  and  lanes  of  clear, 
bright  water,  and  trails  led  from  one  cardinal  point  to 
another.  As  settlements  progressed  on  the  coast  the  lum- 
bermen worked  up  the  streams  and  cut  the  choice  timber 
in  the  interior  forests,  floating  it  down  to  tide  water. 
Every  lumber  firm  had,  and  still  has,  "  explorers  "  search- 
ing out  good  localities  for  the  following  year's  cut,  but 
the  topography  of  the  country  in  all  its  essential  points 
was  in  the  meantime  well  known,  though  not  surveyed, 
nor  always  accurately  mapped.  Even  yet  there  are  dis- 
cordances upon  Canadian  maps,  for  every  provincial 
government  and  different  departments  of  the  Dominion 
Government  make  their  own  maps — there  is  no  official 
central  geographical  authority  as  in  England  and  other 
countries  of  Europe. 

As  appears  in  preceding  chapters,  the  point  of  Cape 
Breton  was  the  very  first  spot  on  the  northeast  coast  of 
the  continent  known  to  Europeans.  It  was  the  point  of 
discovery  in  1497,  ^"<^  ^  well-known  rendezvous  for 
sailors  after  1504.  Sailors  of  all  nations  fished  on  the 
coast.  Special  harbours  were  preferred  by  each  nation, 
as  is  clear  from  their  old  names.  Thus  St.  Anne's  Bay 
was  resorted  to  chiefly  by  the  French,  the  present  Sydney 
harbour  was  known  as  la  Baye  des  Espagnols,  and  the 


420    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

Louisbourg  of  after  times  as  Havre  aux  Anglais ; 
Niganis,  now  Ingonish,  was  the  site  of  an  abortive  Portu- 
guese colony  in  1521,  and  Mira  Bay  and  River  are  names 
transferred  from  Portugal.  Under  the  authority  of  King 
James'  patent  to  Sir  William  Alexander,  Sir  James 
Stewart,  Lord  Ochiltree,  in  1629,  made  an  attempt  to 
found  a  colony.  He  had  sixty  people  with  him,  including 
women  and  children.  He  selected  Baleine  harbour,  two 
miles  west  of  the  point  of  Cape  Breton,  for  his  settlement, 
and  there  he  built  a  fort  and  forthwith  proceeded  to  exer- 
cise authority.  He  had  not  been  many  months  there  when 
Captain  Daniel  of  Dieppe  seized  the  fort  and  hoisted  the 
French  flag.  He  deported  the  English  settlers  to  Eng- 
land and  France,  razed  the  fort  and  carried  off  the  guns 
and  ammunition  to  Grand  Cibou,  where  he  established  a 
post,  which  he  called  Ste.  Anne — known  after  1713  as 
Port  Dauphin.  After  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  had  ceded 
Nova  Scotia  to  England  France  determined  to  create  at 
Louisbourg  a  western  Gibraltar  to  guard  the  entrance  of 
the  gulf,  a  plan  which  was  achieved  with  so  much  success 
that  the  English  could  not  carry  out  any  successful  settle- 
ment in  Acadia  because  of  incessant  intrigues  carried  on 
from  thence  among  the  Micmac  Indians.  In  1747  the 
New  England  troops,  in  conjunction  with  a  British  fleet, 
captured  the  stronghold  which  had  been  so  long  a  thorn 
in  their  side.  It  was  restored  at  the  peace,  and  had  to  be 
taken  again  in  1758  by  Wolfe  before  it  was  possible  to 
attack  Quebec.  The  island  was  made  a  separate  gov- 
ernment in  1784,  and  Sydney,  the  capital,  was  founded 
by  the  first  governor,  Des  Barres,  in  1785.  Settlement 
was  slow  and  the  island  was  in  1820  annexed  to  the 
Province  of  Nova  Scotia.  It  was  thoroughly  well  known 
to  the  French,  excepting  the  long  mountainous  prolon- 
gation to  the  north.  The  interior  of  that  peninsula 
remained  unexplored  until  within  the  last  twenty  years, 
when  it  was  examined  by  an  officer  (Mr.  Fletcher)  of  the 
Geological  Survey. 

The   Province  of  New  Brunswick  was  set  ofif  from 
Nova  Scotia  in  1784  and  the  city  of  St.  John  was  founded 


THE  ATLANTIC   COAST        421 

in  1783,  but,  as  we  have  seen,  Champlain  surveyed  the 
harbour  in  1604,  and  we  have  his  chart  with  his  sound- 
ings laid  down  upon  it.  La  Tour  built  a  fort  there  in 
1635,  and  from  that  time  to  the  conquest  and  cession  of 
Canada  there  was  always  an  establishment  of  more  or 
less  importance  there.  The  River  St.  John  is  remarkable 
for  navigability  throughout  its  entire  course.  Only  at 
one  spot,  the  Grand  Falls,  two  hundred  and  twelve  miles 
from  its  mouth,  is  it  necessary  to  make  a  portage.  Its 
branches  spread  widely  over  the  province  and  interlock  ' 
with  the  head-waters  of  many  important  streams  open- 
ing up  the  interior  of  what  is  now  Maine,  as  well  as 
New  Brunswick,  and  giving  access  by  several  routes 
to  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  whole  province  is  singularly 
well  watered,  and  in  the  French  period,  not  only  were 
there  posts  at  the  mouths  of  the  rivers,  but  at  cardinal 
points  on  their  courses  There  was  no  formal  exploration, 
but  gradual  advance  along  the  streams.  Among  the 
grants  registered  at  Quebec  were  a  number  of  seigniories 
on  the  St.  John  River,  as  well  as  in  other  places  in  Acadia. 
There  was  a  fort  at  the  junction  of  the  Nashwaak  (near 
the  present  Fredericton),  which  the  English  besieged  in 
1696,  and  one  at  Jemseg,  built  first  by  the  English  in 
1659,  and  strengthened  by  the  French  in  later  years. 
The  country  round  the  head  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  was 
early  settled  and  forts  were  built  by  the  English  and 
French.  The  concession  to  Nicholas  Denys  before  men- 
tioned ran  along  the  New  Brunswick  coast  on  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  and  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century 
there  were  posts  and  grants  at  the  mouths  of  the  Richi- 
bucto,  Miramichi,  and  Nipisiquit  rivers,  as  well  as  at 
Miscou. 

The  deportation  of  the  Acadians,  the  break-up  of  the  , 
French  trade,  and  the  withdrawal  of  all  the  little  gar- 
risons put  back  the  development  of  this  region  until  the 
outcome  of  the  civil  war  among  the  English  threw,  in 
1783,  into  New  Brunswick  a  loyalist  immigration,  which 
really  laid  the  foundation  of  the  present  province.  To 
dwell  farther  upon  the  subject  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this 


422    THE  ST.   LAWRENCE  BASIN 

volume.  What  occurred  was  settlement,  for  the  explora- 
tion had  previously  been  done.  Parts  of  the  interior  are 
still  wild — sacred  to  the  moose  and  caribou,  where  the 
hunter  and  fisherman  may  leave  behind  all  sign  of  civil- 
isation, and  where  the  rivers  and  portage  trails  are  the 
only  roads. 

Prince  Edward  Island  is  the  only  completely  occupied 
province  of  the  Dominion.  Although,  as  we  have  seen, 
Cartier  coasted  a  part  of  its  shore  in  1534,  he  supposed 
it  to  be  a  part  of  the  mainland,  and  so  it  remained  on  the 
maps  for  nearly  a  hundred  years.  We  first  hear  of  this 
Island  of  St.  John  (for  there  were  others)  in  1623,  when 
the  Basques,  who  for  a  time  resisted  the  royal  conces- 
sions to  the  companies  trading  and  fishing  in  the  gulf, 
seized  one  of  Champlain's  vessels  and  took  it  to  a  post 
they  had  fortified  on  the  island  for  their  own  account. 
The  island  in  1661  was  included  with  the  Magdalen 
Islands  in  a  concession  made  to  the  Sieur  Doublet  and 
others.  After  Louisbourg  was  founded  attention  was 
directed  to  the  Island  of  St.  John  as  a  source  of  supply, 
and  in  1720  it  was  regranted  to  a  company  of  which 
the  Count  de  St.  Pierre  was  chief.  The  other  islands  in 
the  gulf  were  again  included,  together  with  a  post  at 
Miscou.  An  attempt  was  made  at  colonisation,  but 
although  the  fertility  of  the  island  was  recognised,  very 
little  was  done  until  1733,  when  a  fort  was  built  and  a 
garrison  placed  at  Port  La  Joie,  the  present  Charlotte- 
town.  The  French  Acadians  were  expelled  from  there 
also,  and  in  1769  the  British  Government  granted  the 
island  to  a  number  of  proprietors.  Settlement  was  slow 
at  first,  but  about  1800  the  current  of  settlers  increased. 
The  absentee  proprietors  clung  in  after  years  to  their 
grants  with  great  tenacity,  and  it  was  not  until  after 
confederation  they  could  be  compelled  to  sell  out. 

The  islands  in  the  gulf  have  been  referred  to  inci- 
dentally in  previous  chapters.  The  Magdalen  Islands 
were  included  in  the  grants  fifst  to  Doublet  and  then  to 
St.  Pierre.  The  English  Government  granted  them  to 
Admiral    Coffin   in    1798,    in    whose    family    they   have 


THE  ATLANTIC   COAST        423 

remained.  They  are  inhabited  by  a  contented  popula- 
tion of  fishermen.  The  Island  of  Anticosti,  facing  the 
estuary  of  the  river,  challenges  attention  from  its  size  and 
position.  It  is  122  miles  long  and  30  miles  wide,  and 
until  the  last  few  years  it  was  known  only  as  one  of  the 
dangers  of  navigation  in  the  gulf,  and  associated  with 
gruesome  stories  of  shipwreck  and  starvation.  The 
coasts  have  long  been  accurately  surveyed  and  charted, 
but  the  interior  has  been,  until  recently,  unknown,  and 
much  of  it  is  still  unexplored.  It  was  a  favourite  ground 
for  hunting  walruses,  and  Hakluyt  records  voyages 
thither,  but  the  walruses  have  long  since  been  extermi- 
nated. Jolliet  made  an  attempt  to  settle  there  after  the 
island  was  granted  to  him  in  1680,  and  he  wintered  there 
with  his  family  for  several  seasons,  but  in  1690  the  Eng- 
lish, under  Admiral  Phips,  destroyed  his  establishments 
and  ruined  him.  The  property  passed  by  inheritance 
through  several  generations  until  after  the  conquest, 
when  some  English  people  bought  it,  but  none  of  them 
made  any  serious  attempt  to  colonise  or  use  the  island 
in  any  way.  It  existed  solely  as  a  terror  to  sailors.  At 
last  in  1874  a  company  made  an  attempt  at  colonisation, 
but  failed.  No  one  would  believe  the  island  was  good 
for  anything  but  wrecking  ships.  After  many  abortive 
attempts  to  dispose  of  it,  the  island  was  in  1895  pur- 
chased for  $125,000  by  M.  Henry  Menier  of  Paris,  and 
is  now  his  property  in  fee  simple.  He  is  restocking  it 
with  game,  bringing  in  settlers,  establishing  fisheries, 
leasing  farms,  making  roads,  and  building  mills  for  lum- 
ber, grain,  and  pulp.  A  village  has  started  up  at  the 
place  where  M.  Menier  has  fixed  the  seat  of  what  is  prac- 
tically his  government,  and  it  has  now  been  discovered 
that  the  thick  matted  brushwood  along  the  coast  is  merely 
a  screen  concealing  much  good  land  and  good  timber. 
M.  Menier  has,  in  fact,  a  principality  of  2600  square 
miles  in  extent — larger  than  Prince  Edward  Island — 
where,  subject  only  to  thf  public  law  of  Canada,  he  is 
supreme.  Attempts  are  row  and  then  made  to  excite 
prejudice  on  account  of  M.  Menier's  nationality,  but  in 


424    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

vain,  for  he  is  redeeming  a  waste  portion  of  Canada  and 
making  a  wilderness  into  a  home  for  a  settled  popula- 
tion. Such  aliens  are  benefactors,  and  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  fear  M.  Menier  when  he  begins  to  rear  for- 
tresses and  raise  troops. 

The  island  province  of  Newfoundland  is  a  standing 
witness  of  the  power  of  bad  laws  to  retard  the  settlement 
of  a  fine  colony.  It  is  the  oldest  transatlantic  possession 
of  the  British  Crown,  and  it  has  been  for  hundreds  of 
years  the  unfortunate  subject  of  constant  imperial  legisla- 
tion. Its  early  discovery  has  been  sufficiently  dwelt  upon 
in  previous  chapters.  At  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  coast  line  of  the  island  was  fully 
explored.  Almost  every  harbour  was  then  frequented  by 
fishermen  from  Western  Europe,  and  no  more  than  that 
could  be  said  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Even  yet  the  population  is  a  fringe  on  the  sea  coast  at 
the  east  and  south,  and  it  is  only  within  the  last  few 
months  that  the  foreign  influence  which  for  two  hun- 
dred years  kept  the  north  and  west  coasts  a  wilderness, 
has,  by  a  stroke  of  wise  and  happy  statesmanship,  been 
removed. 

The  dominant  idea  of  all  legislation  from  1633  to  1800 
regarding  Newfoundland  was  that  it  should  be  a  nursery 
of  English  seamen,  and  to  that  end  the  fishing  industry 
was  alone  sanctioned.  Every  other  interest  was  re- 
pressed. Such  permanent  settlers  as  there  were  were 
discouraged  and  more  than  once  orders-in-council  were 
passed  to  compel  them  to  remove  to  another  colony,  by 
tearing  down  their  homes.  Buildings  could  not  be 
erected  without  the  permission  of  the  governor,  and 
vessels  were  forbidden  to  carry  settlers  to  the  island. 
The  object  was  to  make  it  a  fishing  station  only,  from 
which,  when  the  season  was  over,  all  the  inhabitants 
should  return  to  England. 

It  is  unprofitable  to  dwell  upon  such  perversities  of 
government  excepting  to  explain  the  otherwise  unac- 
countable fact  that  a  large  portion  of  the  interior  of 
Newfoundland  is  to  this  day  unexplored.     It  is  not  sur- 


THE  ATLANTIC   COAST        425 

prising  that  a  lake  not  laid  down  upon  the  maps  should  be 
announced  as  discovered  in  September,  1903.  There  are 
many  blanks  upon  the  map  yet  to  be  filled  up,  especially 
in  the  northern  peninsula  and  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
interior.  Communication,  until  the  railway  was  con- 
structed, was  almost  solely  by  sea,  and  the  first  piece  of 
ordinary  road  was  not  built  until  the  year  1825. 

The  first  attempt  at  exploration  of  the  interior  was 
made  in  1822  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Cormack.  He  had  arranged 
to  have  a  companion  from  the  colony  with  him,  and  a 
Micmac  Indian  as  guide,  but  the  governor  opposed  the 
attempt,  and  as  the  colonist  held  some  civil  appointment 
Cormack  had  to  go  with  the  Indian  only,  the  governor, 
fortunately,  having  no  hold  on  the  Micmacs.  Cormack 
started  from  the  head  of  Random  Sound,  in  Trinity  Bay, 
September  3,  and  arrived  at  St.  George's  Bay,  on  the 
west  coast,  on  November  2,  having  crossed  the  island  on 
foot  at  its  widest  part.  He  found  game  plentiful,  and  in 
the  ponds  and  lakes  were  geese,  ducks,  and  fish  in  abun- 
dance. The  woods  were  all  furrowed  with  paths  made  by 
caribou  in  their  migrations.  There  were  marshes  and 
barrens,  but  also  green  plains  and  good  timber.  No  simi- 
lar attempt  was  made  until  1864,  when  a  Geological  Sur- 
vey was  instituted  under  Mr.  Alexander  Murray,  and  it 
has  been  successfully  continued  under  his  successor,  Mr. 
James  Howley,  to  the  present  day.  Exploration  has  been 
directed  chiefly  to  those  parts  of  the  island  giving 
promise  of  minerals  and  along  the  valleys  of  the  rivers, 
which  all  flow  diagonally  southwest  and  northeast  across 
the  centre  of  the  island,  and  where  the  best  land  and 
timber  are  found. 

The  telegraph  lines  in  connection  with  the  ocean  cables 
at  Heart's  Content  on  Trinity  Bay  do  indeed  cross  the 
island  to  Port  aux  Basques,  but  they  follow  the  heads  of 
the  great  southern  bays.  A  survey  for  a  projected  rail- 
way was  made  in  1875,  ^"^  the  route  selected  was  not  far 
from  Cormack's  track  in  1822,  across  the  broad  southern 
portion  of  the  island.  Although  no  engineering  difficul- 
ties were  encountered,  the  project  was  not  carried  out, 


426    THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  BASIN 

and  in  fact  that  part  of  the  island  gives  httle  promise  of 
resources  to  support  a  railway  or  to  attract  settlement. 
In  1882  railway  building  began  with  a  line  to  connect  the 
settlements  along  the  east  coast,  and  at  last,  in  1893,  the 
Northern  &  Western  Railway  was  commenced.  It 
leads  first  to  the  north,  touching  the  heads  of  the  great 
eastern  bays  and  serving  the  chief  settlements ;  crosses 
the  valley  of  the  Gander  to  the  Exploits  River,  which  it 
foUow'S  westward  for  some  distance,  then  strikes  across 
the  centre  of  the  island  to  the  head  of  Grand  Lake  and 
the  Humber  River,  thus  opening  up  the  best  part  of  the 
interior.  The  road  follows  the  Humber  to  the  head  of 
the  Bay  of  Islands  on  the  west  coast,  and  turning  south 
it  passes  on  to  St.  George's  Bay,  and  thence  to  Port  aux 
Basques  on  Cabot  Strait,  thus  making  a  great  semi- 
circle through  the  heart  of  the  island. 

The  unexplored  regions  lie  to  the  north  and  south  of 
the  great  river  valleys  which  cross  the  centre  of  the  island 
in  a  northeast  and  southwest  direction.  Along  these 
valleys  are  the  most  promising  regions.  Large  tracts 
of  good  land  with  fine  timber  are  found  there,  and 
through  them  any  movement  towards  settlement  will  pro- 
ceed. What  is  known  of  the  unexplored  parts  of  the 
island  indicates  a  plateau  of  no  great  height,  abounding  in 
lakes  and  ponds  of  all  sizes  connected  by  streams  and 
with  frequent  marshes.  There  are  large  tracts  of 
"  barrens,"  bare  of  trees,  but  covered  with  caribou  moss 
and  interspersed  with  patches  of  stunted  pines  and  larch. 
Great  herds  of  caribou  inhabit  the  interior  and  migrate 
to  the  south  in  the  autumn  to  return  in  the  spring  to  the 
north.  When  the  fishing  season  is  over  the  fishermen 
on  the  coast  go  up  the  deep  inlets  and  the  rivers  to  shoot 
the  caribou  on  their  migrations,  and  sportsmen  from  Eng- 
land and  the  United  States  resort  to  the  island  for  the 
same  purpose.  Such  excursions  are  made  by  men  who 
do  not  concern  themselves  with  geography,  and  there  is, 
therefore,  much  knowledge  of  the  country  not  recorded 
upon  maps.  To  follow  Cormack's  track  of  1822,  or 
even  the  track  of  the  railway  survey  of  1875,  may  be  an 


■\ 


the  Michigan.  U.  S.  A.,  side  and  the  entrance  tu  the  Uailed  States  canal, 
on  the  left  is  the  old    Hudson's  Bay  Coiripany's  blockhoust 


r 


THE  ATLANTIC   COAST        427 

arduous  undertaking,  but  by  the  river  valleys  the  island 
may  be  readily  crossed.  That  so  much  should  remain 
unexplored  of  that  part  of  America  which  lies  nearest  to 
Europe  is  indeed  surprising,  until  the  history  of  the 
country  is  taken  into  account. 

Our  task  is  now  achieved.  From  the  landfall  of  1497 
we  have  traced,  step  by  step,  the  progress  of  discovery 
and  exploration  into  the  heart  of  the  Western  World.  It 
is  a  story  of  four  hundred  years.  Its  incidents,  though 
of  great  interest  and  of  vast  eventual  importance,  for  a 
long  time  attracted  little  attention  in  the  great  centres  of 
civilisation  and  letters.  Empires  in  the  Old  World  have 
waxed  and  waned,  but,  in  the  New  World,  growth,  feeble 
at  first,  has  increased,  and  is  increasing  at  a  rate  inces- 
santly accelerating.  We  have  passed  from  John  Cabot's 
little  vessel  two  thousand  miles  into  the  interior  of  the 
mainland  he  first  touched,  to  the  Sault  of  Lake  Superior, 
where  locks  nine  hundred  feet  long  bear  the  monstrous 
craft  which  carry  a  traffic  already  larger  in  volume,  if 
not  in  value,  than  the  traffic  through  the  Suez  Canal 
between  the  hoary  continents  of  Europe  and  Asia. 


APPENDIX 


List  of  the  Chief  Works  Consulted  or  Referred  to  in  Pre- 
paring THIS  Volume 


WORKS  OF  GENERAL  REFERENCE 

1.  The  Literature   of  American   History.       A   bibliographical 

guide,  in  which  the  scope,  character,  and  comparative 
worth  of  books  in  selected  lists  are  set  forth  in  brief 
notes  by  critics  of  authority.  Edited  for  the  American 
Library  Association  by  J.  N.  Lamed.     8vo.  Boston ;  1902. 

2.  A   History  of   Ancient   Geography  among  the   Greeks   and 

Romans,  from  the  Earliest  Ages  to  the  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  By  E.  H.  Bunbury.  2  vols.,  8vo,  Lon- 
don; 1883. 

3.  Geographic  du  Moyen  Age,  &c..  &c.     5  vols,  in  four;  8vo, 

with  atlas,  oblong  folio.     By  Joachim  Lelewel.     Brussels. 

1852-57- 

4.  The   Dawn   of   Modern   Geography.     A   History   of   Explo- 

ration and  Geographical  Science.  By  C.  Raymond 
Beazley.     8vo,  London ;   1897. 

5.  The  Book  of  Ser  Marco  Polo,  the  Venetian ;  concerning  the 

Kingdoms  and  Marvels  of  the  East.  Translated  and 
edited  with  notes  by  Colonel  Henry  Yule.  2  vols.,  Svo, 
second  edition,  London ;  1875. 

6.  Fonti  Italiani  per  la  storia  della  scoperta  del  Nuovo  Hondo. 

Raccolte  da  Guglielmo  Berchet.  2  vols.,  folio,  Rome ; 
1892. 

7.  Delle  Navigation!  et  Viaggi.     Raccolte  da  M.  Gio.  Battista 

Ramusio.     3  vols.,  folio,  Venice,  1554-65. 

8.  Narrative    and    Critical    History    of    America.     Edited    by 

Justin  Winsor.    8  vols.,  imp.  Svo.     Boston. 

This  work  is  the  joint  production  of  a  number  of 
scholars,  each  writing  on  his  own  subject.  It  is  especially 
valuable  for  the  bibliographical  and  cartographical  notes 
and  appendices  contributed  by  the  editor. 

9.  Coleccion  de  los  Viages  y  Descubrimientos  que  hicieron  por 

mar  los  Espanoles  desde  fines  del  Siglo  XV.  Por  D. 
Martin  Fernandez  de  Navarrete.  5  vols,  in  4to,  Ma- 
drid;   1825-37. 

429 


430  APPENDIX 


10.  Historia  general  y  natural  de  las  Indias,  islas  y  tierra-ferme 

del  mar  oceano.  Por  el  Capitan  Gonzalo  Fernandez  de 
Oviedo  y  Valdez.     4  vols.,  folio.     Madrid;    1851-55. 

11.  Historia  general    de   los   hechos    de   los    Castellanos   en   las 

Islas  i  Tierre  firme  del  Mar  oceano.  fiscrita  por  Antonio 
de  Herrera — in  eight  Decades.  3  vols.,  folio.  Madrid; 
1726-30.  Translation  into  French  of  the  three  first  De- 
cades by  N.  de  La  Coste.     3  vols.,  4to,  Paris;  1659-71. 

12.  Historia   del    Nuevo   Mundo.      Por   J.    B.    Munoz.     Vol.    1, 

Madrid;  1793. 

13.  The  Principall  Navigations,  Voiages  and  Discoveries  of  the 

English  nation  made  by  sea  or  over  land,  .  .  .  within 
the  compasse  of  these  1500  years,  &c.,  &c.  By  Richard 
Hakluyt.  Edition  by  Edmund  Goldsmid,  16  vols.,  8vo. 
Edinburgh;   1885-90. 

14.  Diuers   Voyages   touching  the   Discoverie   of   America   and 

the  islands  adjacent.  Edited  by  Richard  Hakluyt,  1582. 
Reprint,  8vo,  London,  1850. 

15.  The  Discoveries  of  the  World  from  their  first  original  unto 

the  year  of  Our  Lord  1555.  By  Antonio  Galvano. 
Corrected,  quoted,  and  published  in  England  by  Richard 
Hakluyt  (1601).  Reprinted  with  the  original  Portu- 
guese text  and  edited  by  Vice-Admiral  Bethune.  8vo, 
London ;   1862. 

16.  The  First  Three  English  Books  on  America    (i5ii-i555)- 

Being  chiefly  translations,  compilations,  &c.,  by  Richard 
Eden,  from  the  writings  of  Peter  Martyr  of  Anghiera, 
Sebastian  Munster,  the  cosmographer,  Sebastian  Cabot 
of  Bristol,  with  extracts  from  the  works  of  other  Span- 
ish, Italian,  and  German  Writers  of  the  Time.  Edited 
by  Edward  Arber.     4to,   Birmingham ;    1885. 

17.  America :    Its  Geographical  History.     By  W.  P.  Scaife.    8vo, 

Baltimore;  1892. 

18.  The  Discovery  of  North  America :     A  critical,  documentary 

and  historic  investigation,  with  an  essay  on  the  early 
Cartography  of  the  New  World,  before  the  year  1536. 
By  Henry  Harrisse.    4to,  London ;  1892. 

Students  of  American  history  must  always  avail  them- 
selves of  Mr.  Harrisse's  works,  and  should  not  fail  to 
express  their  obligations  to  his  exact  and  exhaustive  re- 
searches. They  cover  the  whole  field  of  the  history  of 
the  Western  World. 

19.  Decouverte  et  Evolution  cartographique  de  Terre-Neuve  et 

des  pays  circonvoisins,  1497- 1501- 1769.  Essais  de  Geo- 
graphic historique  et  documentaire.  Par  Henry  Har- 
risse.    4to,  London,  Henry  Stevens,  Son  &  Stiles ;   1890. 

20.  Historical    and    Biographical    Notes    on    the    Earliest    Dis- 


APPENDIX  431 

coveries  in  America,  1493-1530,  etc.  By  Henry  Stevens. 
New  Haven;   1869. 

21.  A    History   of   the    Discovery   of   Maine.     By    J.    G-    Kohl. 

With  an  Appendix  on  the  Voyages  of  the  Cabots,  by  M. 
d'Avezac.  This  work  is  Vol.  i  of  the  Documentary 
History  of  the  State  of  Maine.     8vo,  Portland;   1869. 

22.  The   Early   History   of   Cartography.     By   Charles    P.    Daly. 

8vo.  Address  before  the  Am.  Ceog.  Society,  New  York, 
1879. 

23.  Lecture  on  American  Maps.     By  J.  G.  Kohl.     Bvo,  Wash- 

ington; 1857. 

24.  Les    Monuments    de    la    Geographie.      Recueil    d'anciennes 

Cartes  Europeenes  et  Orientales.  Par  E.  F.  Jomard. 
Imperial  folio,  Paris;   1854-56. 

25.  Die   Entdeckung  Amerikas,  &c.,   &c.     Text   and   Atlas.     By 

F.  Kunstmann.    4to  and  imperial  folio.    Munich;  1859. 

26.  Die  Entdeckung  Amerikas  in  ihrer  Bedeutung  fur  die  Ge- 

schichte  des  Weltbildes.  Text  and  atlas  by  Konrad 
Kretschmer.     4to  and  royal  folio,  Berlin;   1892. 

27.  Map  of  the  World  by  the  Spanish  cosmographer,  Alonzo  de 

Santa  Cruz,  1542.  Reproduction  in  fac-simile  edited  by 
E.  W.  Dahlgren.     Stockholm:  1892. 

28.  Fac-simile  Atlas  to  the  Early  History  of  Cartography.     By 

Baron  A.  E.  Nordenskiold ;  with  English  text  rendered 
from  the  Swedish  by  J.  A.  Ekelof  and  Clements  R. 
Markham.     Folio,  Stockholm;  1889. 

29.  Ensayo  Biografico  del  celebre  navegante  y  consumado  cos- 

mografo  Juan  de  La  Cosa  y  Descripcion  e  Historia  de  su 
famoso  Carta  Geografica.  Por  Antonio  Vascano.  i2mo, 
Madrid;  1892.  With  a  fac-simile  reproduction  of  La 
Cosa's  map  of  1500,  of  full  size. 

30.  The  Discoveries  of  America  to  the  Year  1525.     By  Arthur 

James  Weise.     8vo,  London ;  1884. 

31.  The  Discovery  of  America.     By  John  Fiske.     2  vols.,  8vo, 

Boston;  1892. 

32.  The  Life  and  Voyages  of  Christopher  Columbus,  together 

with  the  Voyages  of  his  Companions.  By  Washington 
Irving. 

33.  Christopher  Columbus,  and  How  he  received  and  imparted 

the  Spirit  of  Discovery.  By  Justin  Winsor.  8vo, 
Boston. 

34.  The  Diplomatic  History  of  America;  its  first  chapter,  1452- 

1493-1494.     By   Henry   Harrisse.     i2mo,   London;    1897. 

35.  The  Line  of  Demarcation  of  Pope  Alexander  VI.  in  A.  D. 

1493  and  that  of  the  Treaty  of  Tordesillas  in  A.  D.  1494; 
with  an  Inquiry  concerning  the  Metrology  of  Ancient 
and    Medieval    Times.      By    Samuel    Edward    Dawson. 


432  APPENDIX 


8vo,  Ottawa;  1900.  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  of  Canada  for 
1899,  and  published  separately. 
36.  Proceedings  and  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Canada.  Published  annually  since  1883.  First  series,  12 
vols.,  4to;  second  series  (now  current)  in  8vo.  Ottawa 
and  Montreal. 

Sections  i  and  2  (French  and  English  History  and 
Archaeology)  contain  many  important  studies  on  the  sub- 
jects of  this  volume. 


CABOT  AND  CORTE-REAL  VOYAGES. 

ZT-  Cabot  Bibliography.  With  an  introductory  essay  on  the 
careers  of  the  Cabots,  based  upon  an  independent  ex- 
amination of  the  sources  of  information.  By  George 
Parker  Winship.     London  and  New  York;  1900. 

This  is  an  exhaustive  work,  leaving  nothing  to  be  de- 
sired.    The  notes  are  luminous  and  judicious. 

38.  A  Memoir  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  with  a  Review  of  the  History 

of  Maritime  Discovery.  By  Richard  Biddle.  8vo,  Phila- 
delphia;   1831. 

39.  Presidential  Address  for  1897.     By  Sir  Clements  Markham. 

Geographical  Journal,  1897 ;  London. 

40.  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot.     Biographical  Notice  with  Docu- 

ments by  Francesco  Tarducci.  Translated  from  the 
Italian  by  Henry  F.  Brownson.     8vo,  Detroit ;  1893. 

This  work  contains  extracts  of  the  originals,  in  Latin, 
Spanish,  English,  and  Italian,  of  all  the  references  to  the 
Cabot  voyages  scattered  throughout  the  larger  and  rarer 
works. 

41.  Jean    et    Sebastian    Cabot;    leur   origine   et    leurs    Voyages. 

Etude  d'Histoire  Critique;  suivie  d'une  Bibliographic 
et  d'une  Chronologic  des  Voyages  au  Nord-ouest  de 
1497  a  1550,  etc.  Par  Henry  Harrisse.  Royal  8vo,  Paris; 
1882. 

42.  John  Cabot,  the  Discoverer  of  North  America,  and  Sebas- 

tian, his  son :  a  Chapter  of  the  Maritime  History  of  Eng- 
land under  the  Tudors,  1496-1557.  By  Henry  Harrisse. 
8vo,  London ;  1896. 

43.  Papers  by  Samuel  Edward  Dawson  in  the  Trans.  Roy.  Soc. 

of  Canada. 

The  Voyages  of  the  Cabots  in  1497  and  1498.  Vol.  12,  1st 
series. 

The  Voyages  of  the  Cabots.     A  Sequei.     Vol.  2,  2d  series. 

The  Voyages  of  the  Cabots.  Latest  phases  of  the  contro- 
versy.    Vol.  3,  2d  series. 


APPENDIX  433 

In  the  Appendix  to  Vol.  3  the  legends  on  the  Cabot  map 
of  1544,  as  translated  under  the  supervision  of  Dr.  Charles 
Deane,  are  reprinted  with  the  Spanish  and  Latin  originals 
from  Vol.  6.     Series  2,  Trans.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc. 

44.  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot,  The  Discovery  of  North  America 

by.  By  C.  Raymond  Beazley.  i2mo,  London  and  New 
York;  1898. 

45.  Cabot's  Discovery  of  North  America.       By  G.   E.   Weare. 

i2mo,  London ;  1897. 

46.  Papers  and  Studies  by  M.  d'Avezac  in  the  "  Bulletin  de  la 

Societe  de  Geographic,"  Paris,  his  introduction  to  the 
"  Bref  Recit "  of  the  second  voyage  of  Jacques  Cartier 
(reprint  by  Tross),  and  his  letter  on  the  Cabot  discovery 
of  America  addressed  to  the  editor  of  Kohl's  "  Discovery 
of  Maine,"  and  published  as  a  supplement  thereto. 

47.  The    Journal    of    Christopher    Columbus    (during    his    first 

voyage,  1492-93)  and  Documents  Relating  to  the  Voyages 
of  John  Cabot  and  Caspar  Corte-Real.  Translated  with 
notes  and  an  introduction  by  Clements  R.  Markham. 
8vo,  London ;  1893. 

This  work  contains  the  translations  of  the  essential 
documents  bearing  upon  the  Cabot  and  Corte-Real  voy- 
ages. In  this  volume,  together  with  Nos.  40,  41,  and  42, 
the  original  sources  scattered  through  many  rare  and 
costly  works  are  available. 

48.  Review  of  Historical  Publications  Relating  to  Canada.  Edited 

by  George  M.  Wrong.  University  of  Toronto  Studies  in 
History.  Published  annually.  6  vols.,  8vo,  1896-1903; 
Toronto. 

This  publication  is  valuable  in  this  connection,  for  it  con- 
tains reviews  by  Canadian  scholars  of  all  recently  pub- 
lished works  on  the  history  and  exploration  of  Canada. 

49.  Etude  sur  les  Rapports  de  I'Amerique  et  de  I'Ancien  Con- 

tinent avant  Christophe  Colomb.  Par  Paul  Gaffarel. 
8vo,  Paris ;  1869. 

50.  Les    Corte-Reals,    et    leurs    Voyages    au    Nouveau    Monde 

d'apres  des  documents  nouveaux  ou  peu  connus,  suivi  de 
texte  inedit  d'un  recit  de  la  troisieme  expedition  de 
Caspar  Corte-Real.     Royal  8vo,  Paris ;  1883. 

This  work  is  exhaustive  of  its  special  subject,  for  it 
contains  all  existing  documents  of  importance  relating  to 
these  voyages.  They  are  given  in  the  original  Portu- 
guese without  translation.  Translations  of  the  most  im- 
portant will  be  found  in  No.  47. 

51.  La    Part    prise   par   les    Portugais    dans    le    decouverte    de 

I'Amerique.  Par  Luciano  Cordeiro.  Transactions  of  the 
Congress  of  Americanistes  at  Nancy  in  1875.  Paris; 
1875- 


434  APPENDIX 


52.  Archive  dos  Agores,  vol.  12.   Ponte  Delgada,  1894,  containing 

a  paper  by  Ernesto  do  Canto  on  the  Portuguese  discovery 
of  America.  Also  Vol.  4  of  the  same  series,  containing  a 
memoir  on  the  Corte-Reals  by  Do  Canto. 

53.  Papers  by   H.   Yule   Oldham  and  J.   Batalha  Reis   on  Dis- 

coveries of  America  by  the  Portuguese  prior  to  Columbus. 
Geog.  Soc,  Nov.,  1894;  Geog.  Journal,  March,  1895; 
April,  1895. 

BASQUE,  BRETON,  AND  NORMAN  VOYAGES 

54.  Historia  de  la  Provincia  de  Guipnzcoa.     Por  Don  Nicholas 

de  Soraluce.     i2mo,  Madrid;  1864. 

55.  Memoria  acerca  del   origen  y  curso  de  las   Pescas  y   Pes- 

querias  de  Ballenas  y  de  Bacallaos,  Asi  que  sobre  el 
Descubrimiento  de  los  Bancos  e  Isla  de  Terranova.  Por 
Don  Nicholas  de  Soraluce.     i2mo,  Vitoria ;    1878. 

56.  Le  Pays  Basque.     Par  F.  Michel.     Paris;  1857. 

57.  Le  Basque  et  les  langues  Americaines.   Par  M.  Julien  Vinson. 

Compte-Rendu  du  Congres  International  des  American- 
istes  ;    1875.     Paris ;    1875. 

58.  Papers  of  the   Rev.   George   Patterson   in  the   Trans.   Roy. 

Soc.  of  Canada. 

The    Portuguese    on    the    North-west    Coast    of    North 

America.     Vol.  8,  ist  series. 
The   Beothiks  or  Red  Indians  of  Newfoundland.       Vol. 

9,  1st  series. 
Sable  Island.     Vol.   12,   ist  series. 

Last  Years  of  Charles  de  Biencourt.  Vol.  2,  2d  series. 
Supplementary  Notes  on  Sable  Island.     Vol.  3,  2d  series. 

59.  Basques,  Bretons,  et  Normands  sur  les  cotes  de  I'Amerique 

de  Nord  pendant  les  premieres  annees  du  XVIeme  Siecle. 
Par  Paul  Gaffarel.  Congres  des  Americanistes.  Sess.  7  a 
Berlin;  1890. 

60.  Histoire  de  Dieppe.     Par  M.  L.  Vitet.     2  vols.,  8vo,  Paris; 

1833. 

61.  Les    Navigations    Franqaises.      Par    Pierre    Margry.      8vo, 

Paris;  1867. 

62.  Recherches  sur  les  Voyages  et  Decouvertes  des  Navigateurs 

Norma.nds.     Par  L.  Estancelin.     Paris ;    1832. 

63.  Documents  relatifs  a  la   Marine   Normande  et  a  ses  arma- 

ments aux  XVIe  et  XVlIe  siecles  pour  le  Canada, 
I'Afrique,  &c.  Recueillis,  annotes  et  publics  par  Charles  et 
Paul  Breard.     8vo,  Rouen;    1889. 

64.  Les  Us   et  Coutumes   de   la   Mer.     4to,   Rouen,    1671.     Con- 

taining Les  Jugemens  d'Oleron. 

65.  An  Inquiry  into  the  authenticity  of  documents  concerning  a 


APPENDIX  435 

discovery  of  America  claimed  to  have  been  made  by 
Verrazzano.  Essay  read  before  the  New  York  Historical 
Society.     By  Buckingham  Smith.     8vo,  New  York;  1864. 

66.  The  Voyage  of  Verrazano.       By  Henry  C.  Murphy.      8vo, 

New  York;  1875. 

67.  Notes  on  Giovanni  da  Verrazano  and  on  a  Planisphere  of 

1529,  Illustrating  his  American  Voyage  in  1524,  with  a  Re- 
duced copy  of  the  map.  By  James  Carson  Brevoort.  8vo. 
In  the  Journal  of  the  American  Geographical  Society  of 
New  York  for  1873,  and  also  separately,  New  York; 
1874. 

68.  Verrazano  the  Explorer;    a  Vindication  of  his  Letter  and 

Voyage  by  B.  F.  Da  Costa.    4to,  New  York;    1881. 


CANADIAN  HISTORY:    CARTIER'S  VOYAGES,  ETC. 

69.  Notes  pour  servir  a  I'Histoire,  a  la  Bibliographic,  et  a  la 

Cartographic  de  la  Nouvelle  France  et  des  Pays  adjacents, 
1545-1703  (par  Henri  Harrisse).     8vo,  Paris;    1872. 

70.  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France.     Contenant  les  navigations, 

decouvertes,  et  habitations  faites  par  les  Frangois  es 
Indes  Occidentales  et  Nouvelle  France.  Par  Marc  Les- 
carbot.     Paris ;   1612.     Reprint,  3  vols.,  Paris ;   1866. 

71.  Histoire  et  Description  generale  de  la  Nouvelle  France  et 

Journal  d'un  Voyage  dans  I'Amerique  Septentrionale. 
Par  le  P.  de  Charlevoix  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus.  3  vols., 
4to,  Paris;  1744.  There  is  an  English  translation  of  this 
work  by  John  Gilmary  Shea,  enriched  with  valuable 
notes.     6  vols.,  8vo,  New  York ;    1886. 

72.  Bibliotheca  Lindesiana.     Fac-simile  of  Three  Mappe-mondes. 

With  collations  and  notes  by  C.  H.  Coote.  Atlas  folio, 
London;  1898.  (Harleian,  Dauphin  and  Desceliers' 
Maps.)  There  is  a  paper  by  Harrisse  upon  this  work. 
"  Dieppe  World  Maps,"  Goettingen  ;  1899. 
yjt-  The  Works  of  Francis  Parkman :  Pioneers  of  France ;  The 
Old  Regime  in  Canada;  The  Jesuits  in  North  America; 
La  Salle  and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great  West ;  Frontenac 
and  New  France.     Boston. 

These  are  the  titles  of  Parkman's  works  bearing  upon 
the  subject  of  this  volume. 

74.  La  Nouvelle  France  de  Cartier  a  Champlain,  1540-1603.     Par 

N.  E.  Dionne.     8vo,  Quebec;    1901. 

75.  Historias    Canadensis    seu    Novae    Franciae    libri    decern    ad 

annum  usque  Christi,  1656.  Small  4to  (Father  Francis 
du  Creux),  Paris;   1664. 

76.  Histoire    du    Canada    et   Voyages   que    les    Freres    Mineurs 


43^ 


APPENDIX 


Recollects  y  ont  faicts.  Par  le  Frere  Gabriel  Sagard.  4 
vols.,  i2mo,  Paris ;  1886. 
TJ.  Histoire  Chronologique  de  la  Nouvelle  France  ou  Canada 
depuis  sa  decouverte  (1504)  jusques  en  I'an  1632.  Par  la 
Pere  Sixte  Le  Tac,  Recollect.  Publiee  pour  la  premiere  fois 
d'apres  le  manuscript  original  de  1689  et  accompagnee  de 
Notes  et  d'un  Appendice  tout  compose  de  documents 
originaux  et  inedits  par  Eug.  Reveillaud.  Svo.  Paris; 
1888. 

78.  Cours  d'Histoire  du  Canada.     Par  I'Abbe  J.  B.  Ferland,  2 

vols.,  8vo,  Quebec;    1861. 

79.  The  History  of  Canada.     By  William  Kingsford,    10  vols., 

Svo,  Toronto;    1887-98. 

80.  Histoire   des   Canadians-Frangais.     Par   Benjamin    Suite.    8 

vols.,  4to,  Montreal ;    1882-84. 

81.  New  France  and  New  England.     By  John  Fiske.     l2mo,  Bos- 

ton. 

82.  Historical  and  Descriptive  Account  of  the  Island  of  Cape 

Breton.     By  J.  G.  Bourinot.     4to,  Montreal;  1892. 

83.  The  Early  Trading  Companies  of  New  France.    A  Contribu- 

tion to  the  History  of  Commerce  and  Discovery  in  North 
America.  By  H.  P.  Biggar  (University  of  Toronto  Series 
of  Studies).     Royal  8vo,  Toronto;  1901. 

84.  The  Anticipations  of  Cartier's  Voyages,  1492-1534.   By  Justin 

Winsor.  From  the  Proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts  His- 
torical Society.     Cambridge,  Mass. ;    1893. 

85.  Voyages  de  Decouverte  au  Canada  entre  les  Annees  1534  et 

1542  par  Jacques  Cartier,  le  sieur  de  Roberval,  Jean  Al- 
phonse  de  Xanctoigne,  &c.  Publics  sous  la  direction  de  la 
Societe  Litteraire  et  Historique  de  Quebec.  8vo,  Que- 
bec ;    1843. 

86.  Voyage   de   Jaques   Cartier   au    Canada   en    1534-       Publiee 

d'apres  I'edition  de  1598  et  d'apres  Ramusio.  Par  M.  H. 
Michelant.  Documents  indedits  sur  Jaques  Cartier  et  le 
Canada  communiques.  Par  M.  Alfred  Rame.  i2mo,  Paris ; 
1865. 

87.  Relation  Originale  du  Voyage  de  Jacques  Cartier  au  Canada 

en  1534.  Documents  inedits  sur  Jacques  Cartier  et  le 
Canada.  Publics  par  H.  Michelant  et  A.  Rame.  l2mo, 
Paris ;    1867. 

88.  Bref  Recit  et  Succincte  Narration  de  la  Navigation  faite  en 

1535-36  par  le  Capitaine  Jacques  Cartier  aux  lies  de 
Canada,  Hochelaga,  Saguenay,  et  Autres.  Re-impression 
de  I'edition  originale  precedee  d'une  introduction  histor- 
ique.    Par  D'Avezac.     i2mo,  Paris ;  1863. 

89.  Jacques    Cartier ;     Documents    Nouveaux    recueillis    par    F. 

Joiion  des  Longrais.     i2mo,  Paris;   1888. 


APPENDIX  437 

90.  Papers  by  Bishop  Howley  in  the  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  of  Canada. 

Cartier's  Course-     Vol.  12,  ist  series. 
The   Old   Basque   Tombstones   of   Placentia.    Vol.   8,   2d 
series. 

91.  Jacques  Cartier;  His  Life  and  Voyages.     By  Joseph  Pope. 

i2mo,  Ottawa; (1890). 

92.  Jacques  Cartier.     Par  N.  E.  Dionne.     i2mo,  Quebec ;  1889. 

93.  Jacques  Cartier  and  His  Four  Voyages  to  Canada.     An  essay 

with    historical,    explanatory    and    philological    notes,    by 
Hiram  B.  Stephens.     Royal  8vo,  Montreal  (1890). 

94.  Papers  by  the  Abbe  Verreau   in   the  Trans.   Roy.    Soc.  of 

Canada. 

Les  Fondateurs  de  Montreal.    Vol.  5,  ist  series. 

Jacques  Cartier;  Questions  de  Calendrier.  Vol.  8,  ist 
series. 

Jacques  Cartier;  Questions  de  Droit  et  d'usage  mari- 
time.    Vol.  9,  1st  series. 

Jacques  Cartier;  Questions  de  Loi  et  Coutumes  Mari- 
times.     Vol.  3,  2d  series. 

Samuel  de  Champlain.     Vol.  5,  2d  series. 

95.  Papers  by  W.  F.  Ganong  in  the  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  of  Canada. 

Jacques  Cartier's  First  Voyage.     Vol.  5,  ist  series. 
Cartography  of  the   Gulf  of  St.   Lawrence   from   Cartier 

to  Champlain.     Vol.  7,  ist  series. 
Dochet  (St.  Croix)  Island.     Vol.  8,  2d  series. 

96.  Les  Singularitez  de  la  France  Antarctique  autrement  nom- 

mee   Amerique,    .     .     .     Par    Andre   Thevet.     Small   8vo, 
Paris;  Reprint,  1878. 

97.  La  Cosmographie  Universelle.     .     .    .     Par  Andre  Thevet. 

2  vols.,  fol.,  Paris;  1575. 

98.  Papers  by  Paul  de  Cazes  in  the  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  of  Canada. 

Deux  points  d'Histoire — (i)  Quatrieme  Voyage  de 
Jacques  Cartier.  (2)  Expedition  du  Marquis  de  La 
Roche.    Vol.  I,  1st  series. 

Les  Points  obscurs  des  Voyages  de  Jacques  Cartier.  Vol. 
8,  1st  series. 

99.  Papers  by  John  Reade  in  the  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  of  Canada. 

The  Making  of  Canada.     Vol.  2,  ist  series. 

The  Basques  in  North  America.     Vol.  4,  ist  series. 

CHAMPLAIN    VOYAGES    AND    COMMENCEMENTS    OF 
EXPLORATION  OF  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE,  ETC. 

100.  (Euvres  de  Champlain.  Publiees  sous  le  patronage  de 
rUniversite  Laval  par  I'Abbe  C.  H.  Laverdiere.  6  vols., 
4to,  Quebec;    1870. 

loi.  Voyages  of  Champlain.  Translated  by  Chas.  P.  Otis.  Edited 


438 


APPENDIX 


with  memoir  and  notes  by  Edmund  F.  Slafter.  3  vols., 
sm.  4to.     Boston  (Prince  Society)  ;  1878-82. 

102.  Vie  de  Samuel  Champlain,  fondateur  de  la  Nouvelle  France 

(1567-1635).     Par   Gabriel   Gravier.     8vo,    Paris;     1900. 

103.  Papers  by  Benjamin  Suite  in  Trans.     Roy.   Soc.  of  Canada. 

Les  Interpretes  du  temps  de  Champlain.     Vol.  i,  1st  series. 

Poutrincourt  en  Acadie.     Vol.  2,  ist  series. 

Le   Golfe   St.   Laurent    (1600-1625).    Vols.   4   and  7,    ist 

series. 
Les  Tonty.     Vol.  12,  ist  series. 
Pierre  Boucher  et  son  livre.     Vol.  2,  2d  series. 
La  Guerre  aux  Iroquois,  1600-1653.     Vol.  4,  2d  series. 
The  Valley  of  the  Grand  River.     Vol.  4,  2d  series. 

104.  Cartier  to  Frontenac.       Geographical  Discovery  in  the  In- 

terior of  North  America  in  Its  Historical  Relations,  1534- 
1700.     By  Justin  Winsor.    8vo,  Boston ;  igoo. 

105.  Le  Journal  des  Jesuites,   1645-68.    4to,  Quebec;   1871. 

106.  The  Jesuit  Relations  and  Allied   Documents.     Travels  and 

Explorations  of  the  Jesuit  Missionaries  in  New  France, 
1610-1791.  The  original  French,  Latin,  and  Italian  texts, 
with  English  translations  and  notes.  Illustrated  by  por- 
traits, maps,  and  fac-similes.  Edited  by  Reuben  Gold 
Thwaites.     y^  vols.,  8vo,  Cleveland ;     1896-1901. 

107.  Relations  des  Jesuites.     Contenant  ce  qui  s'est  passe  de  plus 

remarquable  dans  les  Missions  des  Peres  de  la  Compagnie 
de  Jesus  dans  la  Nouvelle  France.  Quebec,  3  vols.,  8vo; 
1858. 

108.  Relations    Inedites    de    la    Nouvelle    France,    1672-79,    pour 

faire  suite  aux  anciennes  Relations.  2  vols.,  i2mo,  Paris; 
1861. 

Cited  by  the  name  of  the  publisher,  Charles  Douniol. 
They  are  included  in  Thwaites'  Series.     See  No.  106. 

109.  Les  Jesuites  et  la  Nouvelle  France  au  XVIIme  siecle.    Par 

la    R.    P.    Camille    Rochemonteix.     3    vols.,    8vo,    Paris; 

no.  Relation  Abregee  de  quelques  Missions  des  Peres  de  la  Com- 
pagnie de  Jesus  dans  la  Nouvelle  France.  Par  le  R.  P.  F. 
I.  Bressany  de  la  meme  compagnie.  Traduit  de  ITtalian. 
.      .    .    par  la  R.  P.  F.  Martin.  8vo,  Montreal ;  1852. 

Ill  Etablissement  de  la  Foy  dans  la  Nouvelle  France.     Conte- 
nant I'histoire  des  Colonies  Frangaises  et  des  decouvertes, 
.    .    avec  une  relation  exacte  des  expeditions,  &c.,  sous 
la  conduite  de  Sieur  de  La  Salle.     i2mo,  Paris;  1671. 

There  is  an  English  translation  of  the  above  by  John 
Gilmary  Shea,  enriched  with  valuable  notes.  2  vols.,  8vo, 
New  York;    1881. 

112.  Nouvelle  Relation  de  la  Gaspesie,  qui  contient  les  Mceurs  et 


APPENDIX  439 

la  Religion  des  Sauvages  Gaspesiens.     Par  Chrestien  Le 
Clercq.     i2mo,  Paris ;    1691. 

113.  The  Annual  Reports  on  Canadian  Archives,  with  Calendars 

of  Documents,  by  Douglas  Brymner,  1883  to  1902.     Ottawa. 

114.  The  First  English  Conquest  of  Canada.     By  Henry  Kirke. 

Bvo,  London ;    1871. 

115.  Histoire    de    la    Colonic    Frangaise    en    Canada.      (By    the 

Abbe  Faillon.)  3  vols.,  imp.  8vo,  Villemarie  (Montreal)  ; 
1866. 

116.  Histoire    veritable    et    naturelle    du    Canada.      Par    Pierre 

Boucher.     i2mo,  Paris ;  1654. 

117.  Decouvertes  et  Etablissements  des  Franqais  dans  I'Ouest  et 

dans  le  Sud  de  I'Amerique  Septentrionale,  1614-98.  Par 
Pierre  Margry.    6  vols.,  8vo,  Paris;  1879-88. 

118.  The  Iroquois  Book  of  Rites.     By  Horatio  Hale.    8vo,  Phila- 

delphia ;    1883. 

119.  Papers  by  Horatio  Hale  in  the  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  of  Canada. 

An  Iroquois  Condoling  Council.     Vol.  i,  2d  series. 

120.  League  of  the  Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee,  or  Iroquois.  By  Lewis  H. 

Morgan.  New  ed.  with  notes  by  Herbert  M.  Lloyd.  2 
vols.,  8vo,  New  York;  1901. 

121.  Paper  by  Sir  Daniel  Wilson  in  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  of  Canada. 

The  Huron-Iroquois  of  Canada.     Vol.  2,  ist  series. 

122.  The  History  of  the  Five  Indian  Nations  which  are  depend- 

ent on  the  Province  of  New  York  in  America.  By  Cad- 
wallader  Colden.     2  vols.,  i2mo,  London;    1755. 

123.  The  Traditional  History  and  Characteristic  Sketches  of  the 

Ojibway  Nation.  By  G.  Copway  (Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh), 
Chief  of  the  Ojibway  Nation.     i2mo,  London;    1850. 

124.  Origin  and  Traditional  History  of  the  Wyandotts.     By  Peter 

Dooyentate  Clarke.     i2mo,  Toronto ;    1870. 

125.  Moeurs  des  Sauvages  Americains.     Par  le  Pere  Lafiteau.    2 

vols.,  4V0,  Paris  ;    1725. 

126.  Histoire  de  I'Amerique  Septentrionale.     Par  M.  de  Bacque- 

ville  de  la  Potherie.  4  vols.,  i2mo,  Paris ;    1753. 

127.  Memoire   sur  les   Moeurs,   Coutumes,   et  Religion  des   Sau- 

vages de  I'Amerique  Septentrionale.  Par  Nicholas  Perrot, 
public  pour  la  premiere  fois  par  le  L.  P.  J.  Tailhan.  i2mo. 
Paris  and  Leipzic ;    1864. 

128.  History  of  Brule's  Discoveries  and  Explorations,  1610-1626, 

&c.,  &c.,  with  a  Biographical  Notice  by  Consul  Willshire 
Butterfield.    8vo,  Cleveland;    1898. 

129.  History  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Northwest  by  John  Nicolet 

in  1634,  with  a  sketch  of  his  life.  By  C.  W.  Butterfield, 
l2mo,  Cincinnati ;    1881. 

130.  Melanges  d'Histoire  et  de  Litterature.     Par  B.  Suite.     i2mo, 

Ottawa ;    1876. 


440 


APPENDIX 


131.  History  of  Early  Missions  in  Western  Canada.     By  Rev.  W. 

Harris.     i2mo,  Toronto;    1893. 

132.  The  Country  of  the  Neutrals.     By  Jas.  H.  Coyne.    8vo,  St. 

Thomas;    1895. 

EXPLORATIONS  ON  THE  LAKES,  ETC.,  ETC. 

133.  Papers  by  N.  E.  Dionne  in  the  Trans.  Roy.  Soc.  of  Canada. 

Chouart  et  Radisson.     Vol.  11,  ist  series. 
Chouart  et  Radisson.     Vol.  12,  ist  series. 
Jean    Francois    de    la    Rocque,    Seigneur    de    Roberval. 
Vol.  5,  2d  series. 

134.  Voyages.     Being  an  account  of  his  Travels  and  Experiences 

among  the  North  American  Indians,  1652-84,  by  Pierre 
Esprit  Radisson.  With  historical  illustrations  and  intro- 
duction by  Gideon  D.  Scull.  Sm.  4to,  Boston  (Prince 
Society)  ;    1885. 

135.  Annals  of  Fort  Mackinac.    By  Dwight  H.  Kelton.     i2mo, 

Detroit;    1888. 

136.  Mackinac;   formerly  Michilimackinac.     ...     By  John  P. 

Bailey.     i2mo,  Lansing,  Michigan;    1899. 

137.  Early  Mackinac:  a  Sketch  Historical  and  Descriptive.       By 

Meade  C.  Williams.     i2mo,  St.  Louis;    1901. 

138.  Exploration  of  the  Great  Lakes,  1669-70,  by  Dollier  de  Cas- 

son  and  de  Brehant  de  Galinee.  A  reprint  of  the  original 
with  an  English  translation  and  reproduction  of  the  map 
with  all  the  legends.  By  James  H.  Coyne.  8vo,  Ontario 
Historical  Society,  Toronto ;    1903. 

139.  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  with 

the  Original  Narratives  of  Marquette,  Allouez,  Membre, 
Hennepin,  and  Anastase  Douay.  By  John  Gilmary  Shea. 
2d  ed.,  8vo,  Albany;    1903. 

140.  Louis  Jolliet;    Decouvreur  du   Mississippi   et   du    Pays  des 

Illinois,  Premier  Seigneur  de  I'lle  d'Anticosti.  Par  Ernest 
Gagnon.    8vo,  Quebec ;    1902. 

141.  La  Revue  Canadienne.     Vol.  9,  containing  a  series  of  papers 

by  Pierre  Margry  on  Jollict's  life  and  voyages.  8vo, 
Montreal. 

142.  Father  Marquette.    By  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites.     i2mo,  New 

York ;    1902. 

143.  Lake  St.  Louis — old  and  new — illustrated,  and  Cavelier  de 

La  Salle.     By  Desire  Girouard.     Imp.  8vo,  Montreal ;  1893. 

144.  The    Ship-yard   of   the    Griffon.     By   Cyrus    K.    Remington. 

8vo,  Buffalo;    1891. 

145.  Hulbert,  H.  H.     Historic  Highways  of  America.    10  vols., 

i2mo,  Cleveland ;   1903. 

146.  The  Mississippi  Basin.     By  Justin  Winsor.    8vo,  Boston. 


APPENDIX  441 

147.  Nouvelle    Decouverte    d'nn    tres    grand    pays    situe    dans 

I'Amerique,  entre  le  Nouveau  Mexique  et  la  Mer  Glaciale, 
&c.  Par  le  R.  P.  Louis  Hennepin.  i2mo,  Amsterdam; 
1698. 

148.  The  Niagara  Region  in  History.     By  Peter  A.   Porter,  in 

The  Harnessing  of  Niagara,  Cassier's  Magazine.  8vo, 
London ;  1899 ;  and  published  separately. 

149.  Publications  of  the  Buffalo  Historical   Society.     Volume   I, 

containing  Marshall's  paper  on  early  Niagara.  8vo,  Buf- 
falo. 

150.  Old  Trails  on  the  Niagara  Frontier.  By  Frank  H.  Severance, 

Second  edition.    8vo,  Cleveland ;    1903. 

151.  Daniel  de  Greysolon  Du  L'Hut — a  Gentleman  of  the  Royal 

Guard.  By  William  McLennan.  Harper's  Magazine,  Sep- 
tember, 1893. 

152.  Nouveaux    Voyages    de    M.    le    Baron    de    Lahontan    dans 

I'Amerique  Septentrionale.     2  vols.,  i2mo,  La  Haye ;    1703. 

153.  Collections    of   the    State   Historical    Society   of   Wisconsin. 

Edited  by  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites.  8vo,  vols.  1-16;  Madi- 
son; especially  vols.  5,  10,  11,  12,  14,  16,  which  contain  ex- 
ceedingly valuable  papers  on  the  French  explorations  of 
the  west. 

154.  Minnesota    Historical    Society.     Collections.    8    vols.,    8vo, 

St.  Paul ;  1860-98.  Volume  2,  containing  Early  French 
Forts  and  Footprints  in  the  Valley  of  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi. 

155.  Travels  and  Adventures  in  Canada  and  the  Indian  Terri- 

tories between  the  Years  1760  and  1776.  By  Alexander 
Henry.  New  ed.,  edited  with  notes  by  James  Bain.  Bvo, 
Toronto;  1901. 

The  notes  add  much  to  the  value  of  the  edition. 

156.  Papers  by  the  Rev.  George  Bryce  in  the  Trans.  Roy.  Soc. 

of  Canada. 

The  Further  History  of  Pierre  Esprit  Radisson.    Vol.  4, 
2d  series. 

157.  The   British   Empire  in  America    (by  John   Oldmixon).    2 

vols.,  8vo,  London;    1741.     Hudson's  Bay  in  vol.  I. 

158.  An  Account  of  Six  Years'  Residence  in  Hudson's  Bay,  .   .   . 

By  Joseph  Robson.  8vo,  London;  1752.  Appendix  con- 
taining a  short  history. 

159.  The  Remarkable   History  of  the   Hudson's   Bay  Company, 

&c.     By  Rev.  George  Bryce.    Bvo,  Toronto;  1900. 

NEWFOUNDLAND  AND  LABRADOR. 

160.  The     Golden     Fleece,     divided     into    three    parts. 

Transported  from  CambrioU  Colchos  out  of  the  Southern- 


442  APPENDIX 

most  part  of  the  island  called  Newfoundland.  By  Orpheus 
Junior  (Sir  William  Vaughan).  Small  4to,  London; 
1626. 

161.  A  Discourse  and  Discovery  of  Newfoundland,  &c.,  &c.    By 

Richard  Whitbourne.     4to,  London ;  1622. 

162.  A  History  of  Newfoundland,  from  the  English,  Colonial  and 

Foreign  Records.  By  D.  W.  Prowse,  LL.D.,  with  numer- 
ous illustrations  and  maps.  Second  Edition,  8vo,  London; 
1896. 

163.  Newfoundland ;  its  History  and  Present  Condition,  &c.,  &c. 

By  Rev.  M.  Harvey  and  J.  Hatton.    8vo,  Boston ;  1888. 

164.  History  of  the  Island  of  Newfoundland.     By  the  Rev.  Lewis 

A.  Anspach.     2  vols.,  8vo,  London;    1819. 

165.  Narrative  of  a  Journey  Across  the  Island  of  Newfoundland. 

By  W.  E.  Cormack.  i2mo,  St.  John's,  N.  F. ;  1873.  (Re- 
print of  original  edition  of  1836.) 

166.  Notes  of  a  Twenty-five  Years'  Service  in  the  Hudson's  Bay 

Company.  By  John  Maclean.  2  vols.,  i2mo,  London; 
1849. 

167.  The  Grand  Falls  of  Labrador.    By  Henry  G.  Bryant.    Cen- 

tury Magazine,  September,  1892. 

168.  Labrador;   a  Sketch  of  the  People,  Its  Industries  and  Its 

Natural  History.     By  W.  A.  Stearns.     i2mo,  Boston ;  1884. 
The  author  resided  on  the  coast  for  two  years.      The 
most  generally  useful  book. 

169.  The  Labrador  Coast.    Journal  of  Two  Summer  Cruises.    By 

A.  S.  Packard.    8vo,  New  York;    1891. 

170.  Report    of    the    Geological    Survey    of    Canada    for    1895, 

containing  A.  P.  Low's  account  of  his  explorations. 
Ottawa. 

This  report  contains  a  summary  of  all  that  is  known  of 
the  interior  of  Labrador. 

171.  Holme,   Randle   F.     Journey  in   the   Interior  of  Labrador. 

Proc.  Royal  Geog.  Soc,  April,  1888. 

172.  Cary,   Austin.     Exploration   in   Labrador.     Journal   of  the 

American  Geographical  Society.  Vol.  24  (New  York), 
No.  I  of  1892. 

173.  Guay,   Monsiegneur  Charles.    Lettres  sur  I'lle  d'Anticosti. 

8vo,  Montreal;  1902. 


INDEX 


Abenaquis  Indians,  361,  411 

Abitibi,  Lake,  378 

Acadia,   51,   56,  73,  80,  83,  92,  238, 

249.  415 
Accault,  359 
Achelay,  188 

Adirondack  Mountains,  169,  259 
Advocates'   harbour,    242 
Agnese  map,  215 
Agramonte,  Juan  de,  81 
Aguada  Bav;  84 
Akamsea,  River,  345 
Albanel,  Father,  377,  385 
Albany  River,  325,  377 
Alexander,  Sir  William,  416 
Alezay,  137 
Algonquin  Indians,  45,   52,  70,   261, 

30s 
Algonquins  of  Allumette  Island,  301 
Allefonse,  Jean,   11,  201,  209,  219 
Allegheny  River,   408 
Allouez,  Father,  324,  380 
Allumette  Island,  265,  268,  301 
Alphonso    v.,    47 
Ameda,   173,   184,   197,  254 
Andastes,  276,  293,  332 
Andre,  Father,  330 
Anian,  Strait  of,  369 
Annapolis,  valley,  basin,  town,    107, 

2^2,  250,  417 
Anticosti  Island,   135,  342,   352,  423 
Antilia,  9 

Antilles,  3,  36,  51,  61 
Apponats,  134,  148 
Archipelago    of    11,000    Virgins,    84, 

104,   III 
Arendaronons,  275 
Ares  de  Sea,  196 
Armouchiquois,  238,  245 
Ashehurst,_  Thomas,    69,   75 
Ashuanippi  River,  398 
Assiniboines,  369 
Asticou,  267 
Attigouautan,  275 
Attikamegues,  379 
Attikonak   River,   398 
Aubert,  Thomas,  81,  90,  120 
Aubrey,  Abbe,  249 
Audubon,    150 
Ango,  Jean,  81,  89,  95 
Auk,  the  great,  148,  note 
Ayala,  Pedro  de,  28,  30,  37 
Azores,  8,  47,  55,  68,  82,  89,  223 


Bacallaos,  10,  38,  42,  46,  62,  71,  75, 

81,  100,  III,  196 
Bacallhao  Island,  57,  83 
Baffin,  42,  323,  375 
Bailloquet,   Father,   392 
Baleine  harbour,   iii,  420 
Baleine,   Hable   de   la,    127 
Barcellos,   Pedro  de,  69 
Barcia,  90,  96 
Barnabe  Lake,  392 
Barrington  harbour,  108 
Basin  of  Minas,   107,   113,  418 
Basque  discoveries,  62,  64,  85 

fishermen,   59,  73 

Island,    158 

names,   10,  38,  72 

tombstones,  222 

voyages,  62 
Basques,  59,   151,  254 

Spanish,  222 
Baya  de  Santa  Cyria,  56 
Baye  des  Chasteaulx,   125 
Baye  Sainct  Laurens,   155 
Bay  of  the  Bay,   108 
Bay  of  the  Bretons,  28,  80,  103 
Bay  of  Fundy,   i,   53,    105,   112,  242, 

421 
Bay  of  Quinte,  276,  330,  403 
Bear  Head,    132 
Beaupre,  Viscount  de,   198 
Beaver  Indians,  339 
Bebel,  Father,  396 
Behaim,   Martin,   9,    18,   60 
Belle-Isle,    Straits    of,    25,    56,    125, 

148 
Bell  Island,   126 
Beothiks,   70 

Bianco,  Andrea,  10,  62,  66 
Bic,  158 

Biddle,    Richard,    13,   25,   60,   96 
Bienville,   Celeron  de,  409 
Biloxi,  406 
Bird  Rocks,   134 
Bissot,  Frangois,  342 
Black  Bay,   127 

River,   326 
Blanc  Sablon,   117,   127,  147,  154 
Bonaventure,  83;  island,   143 
Bonavista,   56,  83 
Boston   Bay,  245 
Boucher,  Father,  392 
Boulet,  islet,  129 
Bourdon,  Jean,  376 


443 


444 


INDEX 


Bowdoin  College  expedition,  396 

Bradore  Bay,   128,  392 

Bras  d'Or,  417 

Brasil,  Island  of,  9,   15 

Brazil,    10,   47,  92,  97 

BreboEuf,  Father,  295,  380 

"  Bref   Recit,"    152,    160 

Brest  harbour,    117,    125,   128,   154 

Breton  fishermen,  73,  104 

merchants,   264 

sailors,   119 
Bretons,  28,  53,  59,   119 
Brion  Island,    134 
Brule,  Etienne,  276,  293 
Bryant,   H.   G.,  397 
Buffalo,    324 
Burgeo  Islands,  84 
Buteux,    Father,    379 
Buttes,  Hable  des,    127 
Button,  Sir  Thomas,  265,  323,  375 
Bylot,  323,  375 

Cabo  de  Concepcion,  56 

Cabo  de  San  Antonio,  56 

Cabo  Grueso,    1 1 1 

Cabot,  John,   14,  et  seq.,  35  et  seq., 

57,   78,  225 
Cabot,    Sancius,    38,    74 
Cabot,  Sebastian,  31,  39,  77,  85,  87, 

218 
Cabot  Strait,  105,  112,  135 
Cahiague,   282 
Camaret,   201 
Cambaluc,   18,  35,  45 
Canada,  origin  of  word,    158,    187 
Canary  Islands,  7,   19 
Cano,   Sebastian  del,  99 
Canso,  Gut  of,  33,  105,  239 
Cantino  map,  35,  49,  53,  69,  92 
Canto,   Ernesto   do,   60 
Cap  Blanc,  2^5 
Cap  de  la  Have,  241 
C.    de    Portogesi,    29, 
C.  des  Noyers,    107 
Cap  des  Sauvages,   138 
Cap   d'Orleans,    138 
Cap  Rouge,   125,    156,   197,  204 
Cape  Anguille,    131 
Cape  Bauld,    126 
Cape  Blomidon,   107 
Cape  Bonavista,  26,   124 
Cape   Breton,   27,    57,   93,    103,    177, 

419 
Cape  Canso,   80,    104 
Cape   Chidley,    24,    116 
Cape  Chignecto,  242 
Cape  Cod,  245 
Cape  Cormorant,   132,  390 
Cape  Degrat,  125 
Cape  Delatte,   132 
Cape   Despair,    141 
Cape  d'Esperance,   141 
Cape  de  Verde  Islands,  8 
Cape  d'Or,  107,  238,  242 
Cape  Double,   131,   147 


Cape  Enfume,  iii 

Cape   Fear,   93 

Cape  Fourchu,  242 

Cape  Freels,  56,  83,  148 

Cape  Grueso,    1 1 1 

Cape  Kildare,   138 

Cape  Lorraine,    177 

Cape   Merangouin,    107 

Cape   Montmorency,    145 

Cape   Negro,   242 

Cape  North,  31,  105,  iii 

Cape  of  England,  31 

Cape    Pointu,     131 

Cape  Pratto,   143 

Cape  Rabast,    155 

Cape   Race,  29,   58,   80,  83,   103 

Cape  Ray,   105,   178,  222 

Cape  Riche,   131 

Cape    Rosier,    144 

Cape   Royal,    132 

Cape  Sable,  106,  242,  416    ) 

Cape  St.  Francis,  57,  83     j 

Cape   St.    Louis,    145 

Cape  St.   Mary,   1 1 1 

Cape  St.   Vincent,   89 

Cape  Spear,  57,  83 

Cape   Split,    107 

Cape  Thiennot,   147,   154  \ 

Cape  Tryon,   138  ^ 

Cape  Turner,    138 

Capuchins,  301 

Carantouan,   293 

Carbonear,  83 

Carhagouha,   275 

Carignan-Salieres       regiment,       328, 

384 
Carpont,    125 
Carroll's  Cove,    127 
Cartier,  Jacques,   114  et  seq.,   151   et 

seq.,  179  et  seq.,  379 
Castafias,  Rio  de,  109 
Cathay,   11,  45,  75,  92,  93,  120,  215, 
^344  .       , 

Cavelier,  Abbe  Jean,  350 
Cavo  descubierto,   30 
Cavo  de   Inglaterra,  27 
Cayuga  creek,  356 

Lake,    277 
Cayugas,  Indians,  331 
Chabanel,     Father,    311 
Chabot,  Philippe  de,  Sieur  de  Brion, 

95.    119,    134.    151.    193.   210 
Chaleur  Lay,   141,  243,  393,  417 
Chambly,   258,  260 
Chamouchouan   River,   385 
Champlain,   Samuel  de,  21,   112,  223, 

231    et    seq.,    253    et    seq.,    273    et 

seq.,  289  et  seq.,  379,  415 
Charlesbourg     Royal,     200 
Charles  V.,  88,  90,  192 
Charles  VIII.,  118 
Charles  IX.,  219 
Charlevoix,  Father,  81,  96,  155,  185, 

338,   409 
Charnisay,    d  Aulnay,    416 


INDEX 


445 


Chastes,  Aymar  de,  233 

Chateau  Bay,    125 

Chateauguay  River,  265 

Chateau  harbour,   126 

Chatillon,  Marechal  de,  92 

Chaton,   Sieur  de  la  Jaunaye,  221 

Chats  rapids,  268 

Chaudiere   Falls,   267 

Chaumonot,   Father,   309 

Chautauqua    Lake,    408 

Chauvin,   Pierre  de,   232,  260,   391 

Chedabucto   Bay,    no,   417 

Chepody  Bay,   107 

Chequamegon   Bay,    SU.    304,    405 

Chesapeake  Bay,  215 

Cheveux  Releves,  Indians,  273,  282, 

Chicago  River,  345 

Chicoutimi,   23S,   380 

China,   216,   255,   301-.321.   37° 

Chouart,    Medard,    Sieur    des    uro- 
seilliers,    317    et   seq.,    377 

Christian  Island,  313 

Cobeguid   Mountains,    107 

"  Codfish,"   Isle  of,   60 

Coligny,  Admiral,  89 

Columbus,  6,  is.  47.  ^3     ,     ^      . 

Company    of    One    Hundred    Asso- 
ciates, 287 

Conception  Bay,  56,  83 

Conestogas,  276 

Copper,    157,   238,  294,   302,   232,349 

Cordeiro,    Antonio,    60 

Cormack,   W.    E.,   425 

Corte-Real,   Caspar,   48   et  seq. 

Cortez,   II,  89 

Corunna,    100 

Costa  de  Medaiios,  106 

Coulombiers,  Les,   132 

Coureurs  de  bois,   289,  337.  373 

Cousin,   Jean,  67 

Couture,   Sieur,  377 

Cow  Head,   131 

Crane  Island,  160 

Crees,   319.   339 

Crevecoeur,  Fort,  359 

Cumberland  basin,  107 
harbour,    130 

Cuoq,  Father,   188 

D'AiLLON,  Father  de  la  Roche,  298 

Dablon,  Father,  329,  346 

Dakota  Indians,  305 

Daniel,     Capt.,     420 

Daniel,  Father,  308,  311 

Dauphine,  92 

Dauphin  map,   138,  217 

D'Avaugour,   Baron,   321,   325,   377 

D'Avezac,   100,   153 

Deadman's   Island,    137 

De  Caens,  287,  300 

De  Casson,  Abbe  Dollier,  330 

De  Chastes,   239 

De  Chaves,  Alonzo,  102,  ii3 


De  Crepieul,  Father  Frangois,  380 
Deer  Island,   104 

River,    104 
De  la  Tour,  Charles,  416 
Delaware  Bay,   52 
Del   Cano,   Setjastian,   99 
De  Louvigny,  338 
De  Lussigny,   372 
De  Monts,   Sieur,  222,  232,  264 
Denonville,  M.  de,  352,  374.  402 
Denys,  Jean,   81,    120 
Denys,  Nicholas,  417 
De  Puebla,  Ambassador,   17,  37 
De  Quen,  380 
De  Queylus,  Abbe,  330 
De  Razilly,  Isaac,  416 
Desceliers'  maps,   199,  216,  285 
Desertas,  93 
Desliens'   map,    216 
Des  Plaines  River,  345 
De  Tonty,  Henri,  35° 
Detroit,  meaning  of  word,  236 

city,  337.  404 

River,  360 
De  Troves,  378,  409 
Digby  Gut,  107 
Discovery,   Cape,   30 
Dochet  Island,   243 
D'Olbeau,   Father,  295,  381 
Domagaya,   144,   160,   198 
Donnacona,    161,   257 
Dornelos,  Juan,  84 
Doublet,   Sieur,  422 
Druillettes,      Father      Gabriel,      3  IS. 

383.   393 
Dulhut,   Sieur,   370,   407 
Du    Plessis,    Brother    Pacifique,    296 
Dupont  of  Dieppe,  27 


East  Cape,  176 
East  Indies,  90,  95 
East  Main  River,  382,  398 
Echafaud    aux    Basques,    222 
Echaide,   Juan  de,   65,   85 
Echeveste,   Mateas  de,  65,  85 
Eden,   Richard,   2,  77 
Egmont  Bay,   140 
Elliott,   Hugh,   75 
Emerillon,  V ,   I53.    164.   I9S 
Emmanuel,   King,  47,  82 
Ensenada,  Bahia  de  la,  108 
Entry   Island,    137 
Erie  nation,  283,  314 
Escuminac,   Point,    141 
Escurieux,   Indians,  384 
Esquimaux  Bay,    117 

tribe,  45.  39i 
Etchemins,    Indians,   393 


Fagundez,   Joao   Alvarez,   83,    114, 


227 
Fagundez  Islands,  84 


446 


INDEX 


Faroe  Islands,  66 

Ferdinand,   King,   17,  30,  64 

Ferland,  Abbe,   122,   184 

Fermeuse  harbour,  83 

Fernandez,   Francisco,  6g,  75 

Fernandez,    Joao,    69,    75 

Ferro,    142 

Ferro   (Hierro)   Island,  7 

Firearms  supplied   to   Indians,   278 

Fish,     fisheries,     fishermen,     26,     83, 

117,    130,    159,    180,   203,   219,   240, 

336,  364.   394.  419 
Fogo  Island,  8,  83,   148 
Flambeau   River,   364 
Florin,  Juan.      See  also  Verrazano, 

90 
Folles    Avoines,    Indians,    306,    343, 

365 
Formaleoni,  66 
Fort  Chimo,   395 
Fort  Duquesne,  408 
Fort   Frontenac,    353 
Fort  Le  Boeuf,  408 
Fort  Miami,   407 
Fort  Ouitanon,  407 
Fort  Rouille,  410 
Fort  St.  Joseph,  406 
Fort   Stanwix,  411 
Fortune  Bay,  84 
Fort  Venango,  408 
Fort  William,  373 
Fox   River,   307,   313,   343,   40S 
Foxes,   Indians,   339 
Franciroy,  203,  217 
Francis  I.,  88,   118,  126,   193 
Fremin,   Father,  331 
French  Basques,  221 
French   River,   273,   322 
Frontenac,   329,   352,   402 
Frosmond,   Thomas,    153 
Funk  Island,    124,    148 
Furs  and  fur  traders,  219,  231,  263, 

358,  376 

Galinee,  331,  3S0 
Galvano,   Antonio,   49,   100 
Gamart,  pilot,  81,   120 
Gandaseteiagon,    331 
Ganeraska,   331 

Ganong,    Dr.   W.   F.,    122,   137 
Garnier,   Father,   311 
Garreau,   Father,  315 
Gaspe,  238 

basin,   143 

Mountains,   141 
Gastaldi,   Jacomo  di,   208,   219 
Gatineau    River,    266 
Genesee   River,  2-jt,  353,  409 
George   River,    395 
Georgian  Bay,  273 
Gilbert,    Sir   Humphrey,   82,   225 
Gillam,  Capt.,  324,  389 
"  Godez,"     '  godets,"    128,    149 
Goes,   Damian  de,  49 
Gomara,  39,   76,  220 


Gomez,   Stephen,   11,  44,  64,   85,   98 

et  seq. 
Gonzales,  Joao,  69,  75 
Gougou,    the,    238 
Granches,   Catherine  des,    126 
Granches     Mountains,    131 
Grand  Falls   (Labrador),  395 

CHevi   Brunswick),   421 
Grand  Manan,  245 
Grand  Meccatina  Island,    154,  209 
Grand   River,   265 
Gravier,    Father,   406 
Great  Bird  Island,  134 
Green   Bay,   306,   318,   347,   357,  405 

Island,    158 

Mountains,   169,  259 
Greenly   Island,    149 
Grenolle,   294 
Griffon,  The,  357 
Grindstone    Island,    137 
Groix  Island,    126 
Grosse  Island,   160 
Guerin,  Jean,  326 
Guipuzcoa,   64,  85,  223 

Hable  des  Chasteaulx,  125 

Hagonchenda,    171 

Haies,    Edward,   82,   224 

Hakluyt,   13,  24,  37,  67,  76,  91,   119, 

122,   145,   187,   196,  219 
Halifax,   city,   418 

harbour,    108,   247 
Hamilton   inlet,    394 
Hare  Island,  159 
Harleyan  world  map,  216 
Harrisse,   Henry,   48,   53,   60,  68,   76, 

102,    194,   215,   353 
Hatteras,   Cape,   54 
Havre    St.    Nicholas,    155 
Hayes   Factory,   378 
Heath    Point,    145 
Henlopen,   Cape,  42 
Hennepin,   Father,   338,  365 
Henry,   Alex.,   fur  trader,   267,   327, 

369 
Henry   II.,   89 
Henry   III.,  219,   227 
Henry  IV.,  227,  262 
Henry  VII.,  35,  69,  77,  88 
Henry   VIII.,   74,    77,   97 
Herrera,   81,  90 
Hiawatha,  277 
High  Cliff  point,   146 
Hochelaga,    163,    167 

River,    156 
Holme,  R.  F.,  396 
Homem,  Alvaro  Martins,  60,  84 
Honguedo,    156 
Hopedale,    394 

Hopewell  and  Chancewel,  226 
Hore,    Master,   79 
Howley,   Bishop,    122,    126 
Hubbard,  Leonidas,  Jr.,  399 
Hudson,    Henry,    78,    265,    323,    375, 

383 


INDEX 


447. 


Hudson  River,  238,  257 
Hudson's  Bay,  319,  324,  342 

Bay  Company,  323,   325,   3S9. 

373 
Strait,  42,   50 
Humber  River,  426 
Humboldt,   60 

Huron-Iroquois    group    of    nations, 
73,   143,   162 


Icebergs,  26,  38,  40.  5o 

Ilha  de  Frey  Luiz,  56 

Illinois  tribes,  328,  347 

Ingonish,   83 

Irondequoit  Bay,  331 

Iroquet,   Chief,  257,  261,  282,   29a 

Iroquois  confederacy,   276 

wars,  300,  314 
Island  of  Orleans,  314 
Island  of  St.  John,  32,  109,  140,  41 S 
Island  of  St.   Laurence,  239 
Isle  au  Cormorans,  242 
Isle  au  Massacre,    184 
Isle  aux  Coudres,  160,  390 
Isle  aux  Herons,  263 
Isle  aux  Oiseaux,    124 
Isle  de  Bouays,   128 
Isle  de  la  Damoiselle,  209 
Isle  Haute,   245 
Isle  of  Bacchus,   162 
Isle    of    Demons,    207 
Isles  de  St.  Germain,   154    . 
Isle  Ste.  Therese,   258 
Isles  de  St.  Guillaume,   154 
Isles   Rondes,    157 
Isles   Ste.  Marthe,   154 
Islettes,  les,  128 
Islets  de   Saint  Jean,   158 
Issati,  Indians,  371 

Jacques  Cartier  River,  188,  336 

Jamay,   Father,  295 

James  Bay,   375 

Tames'  map,  375 

Jemseg,  421 

Togues,  Father,  308 

John    III.,    69,    92,    96 

Jolliet,  319,  330  et  seq.,  341  et  seq., 

423 
Joncaire,  400 
Joiion  des  Longrais,  206 

Kaministiquia  River,  373 
Kaniapiscau,  Lake,  396 
Kankakee  River,  358 
Kenaston,    Professor,   397 
Kennebec,   244 

River,  245 
Kenogami,  Lake,  381 
Keweenaw  Bay,  323 
Kickapoos,  339 
King  map,  29,  69 
Kingston,  359 


Kirpon  harbour,  125 
Kiskakon  Indians,  348 
Kohl,   J.    G.,   48,   60,   72,  77,   100 
Koksoak  River,  398 


La  Barre,  Governor,  402 
Labrador,  24,  67,  83,    iii,   130,    157, 

392 
Lac  d'Angoulesme,   166,  257 
Lac   des   Soissons,   266 
Lachine,  87 

massacre  at,   402 
rapids,    198,   266,   292,   351 
La  Cosa,  Juan  de,  3,  25,  28,  35,  64 
La  Galissoniere,  409 
La  Grande  Baie,  220 
La   Hontan,    338 
La  Heve,  416 
La  Noiie,  Father,  298 
Lairet,  the,    162,   189 
Lake  Champlain,  237,  257,  41O 
Lake  Couchiching,  275 
Lake  des  Chenes,  268 
Lake  Erie,  309,  409 
Lake  George,  237,  257,  410 
Lake  Huron,   237,   275,   292 
Lake  Melville,  394,  397 
Lake  Memphremagog,   411 
Lake  Michigan,  303,  320,  328,  346 
Lake    Mistassini,    324,    377,    395 
Lake  Nipigon,   324 
Lake  Nipissing,  273,  318 
Lake  of  Tears,  369 
Lake  of  Two   Mountains,   169,   263, 

292 
Lake  of  the  Woods,  325,  373 
Lake  Ontario,  218,  309 
Lake  Pepin,   322 

Lake  St.  Clair,  335 

Lake   St.    John,   236,    380 

Lake  St.  Louis,   169,   199,  236,  351 

Lake  St   Peter,   166,  237 

Lake  Superior,  368 

Lake  Temiscouata,  393 

Lalemant,    Father,    65,    73,   298,   309 

La  Motte  Cadillac,  337,  407 

La  Pointe,  322,  326,  342,  405 

La  Potherie,    190 

La   Prairie    de   la    Madeleine,   263 

La  Roche,  Marquis  de,  227 

La  Roque,  Jean  Frangois  de,   194 

La   Salle,    Robert   Cavelier   de,   330, 
350,  407. 

L' Assumption,   156 

Laure,   Father,   380,  388 

Laurentides,   162 

Laval,  Bishop,  330 

Le  Caron,   Father,  272,  296 

Leigh,  Dr.,  75 

Le  Jeune,   Father,   300 

Lelewel,  67 

Le  Moyne  family,  378,  406 

Lery,  Baron  de,  82 

Les  Araynes,  176 


448 


INDEX 


Lescarbot,    71,    107,    120,    157,    220, 

228,  239,  246,  285 
Le    Sueur,    406 
Le  Tac,   Pere,    166,   189 
Lobster  Bay,    129 
Lok's  map,   95 
Long  Point,    128 
Long  Point   Bay,  334 
Longitudes,    determinations   of,    3 
Long  Sault,  266 
Long  Sault  on  the  Ottawa,  378 
Lorette,   314 
Louisbourg,  420 
Louis   XIL,    118 
Louis  XIV.,  362 
Low,  A.  P.,  382,  396 
Loyalists,    413,    418,    421 
Luis,  Lazaro,  84 


Mackenzie  River,  363 

McLean,   John,   395 

Madawaska   River,   268 

Mackinac,   Old,   338 

Magdalen  Islands,  33,   13s,  222,  283, 

422 
Magellan,  87,  99 

Straits  of,   2x5 
Maggiolo,   Vesconte  di,   27,   69,   95 
Magnetic  variation,   20,    123 
Maisonneuve,     Sieur     de,     Paul     de 

Chomedey,     270,     1^41 
Maize,    168,    180,   275,   317,   365 
Mallebarre,   245 
Mance,  Jeanne,   310 
Manicouagan     River,     158,     392 
Manitoulin    Islands,    314,    339 
Marest,   Father,  338 
Margaulx,    134,    148 
Marguerite,    niece   of    Roberval,    207 
Marquette,   Father,   319,  336,   380 
Marsh,   Mary,   70,   72 
Marshall,  O.  H.,  356  . 
Marsolet,   interpreter,  295 
Martyr,   Peter,   38,   39,   70,   76 
Mary  of  Guilford,  79 
Mascoutins,    319,   339,   344 
Maskinonge   River,    166 
Mason's  map,   27 
Masse,    Father   Ennemond,   298 
Matchedash    Bay,    275 
Mattawa   River,   273 
Maumee   River,   358,   407 
Mayda   Island,   9 
Meccatina  Islands,  209 
Medina,   Pedro  de,    124 
Membertou,    241: 
Membre,   Father,   367^ 
Menard,   Father   Rene,   325 
Menomonee   River,   306 
Menomonees,    Indians,    339 
Mercccur,    Duke   dc,   228 
Mer  Douce,  275,  296 
Meridian,   magnetic,    103 
Metabetchouan  River,  381 


Miami    River,    358 

Miamis,   Indians,  339 

Michaux,   391 

Michelant,    M.,    121 

Michikamau,  Lake,  395 

Michilimackinac,   302,  314,  337,   371 

^405 

Michipicoton   River,   377 

Micmac   Indians,   72,   142,   148 

Midland,    308 

Mille   Lacs,   367 

Mingan  channel,    151 

Miquelon,  84,   222 

Mira,   Bay  and  River,  83,  420 

Miramichi,   239 

Bay,    141 

mission,   393 
Miscou,    141,   223,   417 

Island,  239 
Mississauga    Indians,    414 
Mississippi   River,   307,   320,  341 
Missouri   River,   320 
Mohawks,    182,   257,   310,   316,  329 
Mohegan  Indians,  359 
Moisic   River,    157,   394 
Moluccas,    Id 

Montagnais   Indians,   70,   131,  261 
Montanas,    Rio   de,    106 
Montigny,    missionary,   406 
Montmorenci,     Duke     de,     286 
Montmorenci   Falls,   236 
Montreal,    n8,    167,    170,   262,  270 
Montreal  River,  322,  364 
Monts   Deserts,   245 
Moose  River,  324,  378 
Moravian   Brethren,   394 
Morse,   Col.    Robert,   419 
Mount   Royal,    i6g,   216 
Muskingum    River,   408 
Muskrat  Lake,  268 


Nadouessieux,  309 

Natashquan,    147 

Nation  de   Feu,   Indians,  344 

Nation  of  Beef,   Indians,   322 

Natives,      kidnapped     and     sent     to 

France,   51,   70,  76,   101,   144,   165, 

17s,   192,   197,  213,  239,  262,  292, 

402 
Navarette,  Martin  Fernandez  de,  64, 

81 
Nebicerini,  265 
Nekouba,   Lake,  384 
Nemiskau  Lake,  376 

River,   385 
Neutral    nation,    256,    278,    282,    295, 

309,    314 
New    Brunswick,    107,   420 
Newfoundland,    56,    65,    70,    79,    85, 

104,    117,    123,    131,   424 
Niagara,   237 

Falls,    284,    295,   332,   3SS 

post,   402 

River,  293,  309,  332 


INDEX 


449 


Nichicun  Lake,  382,  396 
Nicholas,   Father,   328,   393 
Nicollet,  Jean,   301 
Nipisiquit  mission,   393 
Nipissings,    265,    269,    301,    339 
Noel,    Jacques,    218 
Noel,   Stephen,    197 
Nonsuch,   The,  387 
Normans,   59,   120 
North  Bird  Island,   134 
North   Cape,    140 
Northmen,  voyages  of,   59,  67 
Northumberland    Strait,    139 
Northwest  River,  395 
Norumbegue,    96,    129,    219,    241 
Notre    Dame    Mountains,    156 
Nottawasaga   Bay,   313 
Nouvel,   Father,   348,   380 
Nova  Scotia,  93,  107,  418 
Novercha,   66 


Ochiltree,  Lord,  420 
Ohio  River,  353 
Ojibways,    182,   308,   327 
Oneida    River   and   Lake,   276 
Onion   River,   411 
Onondaga  Lake  mission,  316 

tribe,    315 

town,   27s 
Orange,  316 
Orleans,  Island  of,  160 
Oswego,  Fort,  410 

River,   316 
Otonabee   River,  276 
Ottawa    (city),   217,   266 

Indians,   273,   326 

River,    169,    218,    26s 
Outarde  River,   158,  398 
Oviedo,   102,   107,   109 


Palistaskau,  Lake,  385 
Parkhurst,  Anthony,    148,   224 
Parkman,    120,    184,  204,  278,   353 
Pashasheeboo  Bay,   155 
Pasqualigo,  36,  49,  68,  92 
Passamaquoddy   Bay,   243 
Peckham,  Sir  George,  38 
Penobscot,   104,  216,  219 
Peoria  Lake,  359 
Perce,  238 
Pere,    Jean,    332 
Perroquet  Island,   150 
Perrot,   Nicholas,  326,   339,  406 
Petite    nation,    Indians,    263 

River,  266 
Petitsikapau   Lake,   396 
Petit-Val,     Raphael     du,     121,     132, 

145 
Philip  II.,    102,   223 
Phips,  Admiral,   417 
Pierson,    Father,    348,    371 
Piet,   Father   Irenaeus,   297 
Pijart,  Father,  308 


Pilestrina,  Salvat  de,   114 

Pilgrims  Islands,   159 

Pillage   Bay,    155 

Piouagamik,  Lake,  381 

Pistolet   Bay,    126 

Placentia,  38,   222 

Pleasant    Bay,    137 

Point   de    Monts,    157,   253 

Pointe  a  Callieres,   262 

Pointe  au   Platon,    165,   189,   236 

Pointe  Bleue,  382 

Pointe    de    la    Latte,    132 

Point  Pelee,  334 

Polo,   Marco,    12,   35 

Pont-Grave,    Sieur   Francois,   223 

231,  264,  379 
Porcupine    nation,    381 
Port  au  Mouton,  241 
Port  au   Port,    133 
Port  aux   Basques,    178,   222,   426 
Port  Daniel,    142 
Porte    Croix   Indians,    181 
Port  la  Joie,   422 
Porto   Bello,    234 
Portochova,   222 
Port   Rossignol,   241,  417 
Port  Royal,  244,  245,  415 
Port   St.    Louis,   24s 
Portuguese  influence,  47 

fishermen,    73,   82 

maps,   53,    56,   114 

names,    8,    53,    72 

sailors,   47,   82 

settlements,   83 
Potaganissing  Bay,   303 
Pottawatamies,   318,   335 
Poutrincourt,    112,   244,   416 
Prairie  du   Chien,  344,   366 
Prato,  Albert  de,  96 
Prevert,    Sieur,   238 
Prince  Edward  Island,   140,  413,  422 
Prowse,  Judge,  79 
Prudhomme,    Guillaume,   95 
Puants,  Baie  des,  305,   318 

nation  des,  305 
Purchas,  William,   76,  79 


Quebec,  meaning  of  word,  236 


Radisson,   Pierre  Esprit,   316,   378, 

389 
Rageneau,   Father,   309 
Ralleau,  246 

Ramea  Islands,  84,  99,  222 
Ramusio,    56,   76,   90,    121,    152,   196, 

274 
Rapont   harbour,    125 
Raymbault,    Father,   308 
Recollet    missionaries,    271,    290,    393 
Red  Bay,   127 
Red    Indians,     17 

Island,   132,   158 
River,  363 


450 


INDEX 


Reinel,  Pedro,  20,   57,   72,   117 

Renews,   81,    178,   222 

"  Relation  Originale,"    122,    130,    145 

Restigouche  Mission,  393 

Rice  Lake,  275 

Richars,     128,     149 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,   249,  287,   300 

Richelieu,   fort,    165 

River,    165,  257,  410 
Richibucto  mission,   393 
Richmond  or  Malpeque  Bay,  139 
Rideau   Falls,  267 
Rimouski,     158 
Rio  de  dos  Bocas,  iii 
Rio  de  las  Gamas,   109 
Rio   de    Muchas    Islas,    ill 
Rio  de  Rosa,  56 
Rio  Grande,  108 
Rio  Nevado,  50 
River  de  Ste.  Helena,  217 
River  of  Boats,    139 
River  of  Chestnut  Trees,   107 
River  St.  Jacques,  130 
River  of  the  Algonquins,  265 
Riviere  Buade,  352 
Riviere  de   Fouez,   257 
Riviere  des  Iroquois,  237,  257,  410 
Riviere  du  D6tour,  108 
Roberval,   Sieur  de,    192  et  seq. 
Rock  River,  368 
Romaine  River,  398 
Rougemont,  Philippe,   173 
Rupert's  River,  324,   375 
Rut,   John,   79,   96 
Ruysch's  map,  19,  29,  36 

Sable  Island,  114,  225 

Franciscan  monk  on,  229 

Sacred  Island,   126 

Sacs,  Indians,  326,  339 

Sagard,   Father,   189,  267 

Saguenay,  kingdom  of,   156 

River,     23s,     283,     324,     342, 
381 

Saineterre,  M.  de,  201,  205 

Sambro  Island,  247 

San  Sebastian,   64 

Santa  Cruz,  map,  68,  102,  116 
Island,   227 

Sault,    The    (Lachine    rapids),    ei8, 
236,  262 

Sault  au   Recollet,   298 

Sault  de  Gaston,   285,  302 

Saulteaux,   Indians,   308,   320,   339 

Sault  St.  Louis,  263,  271 

Sault  Ste.  Marie,  285,  294,  339,  405 

Savignon,  292 

Schoodic,  243 

Schooner  Island,  126 

Scioto  River,  408 

Scitadin,   184 

Scorafixa,  10,  66 

Seneca  Indians.  278,  331,  409 


Seven  Cities,  Island  of,  9,  15,  61 

Seven  Islands  Bay,   157 

Severn  River,  274,  378 

Shawinigan    Falls,    379 

Shawnee   Indians,   67,   232 

Shecatica  Bay,   130 

Shickshock  Mountains,   156 

Siboure,  66 

Sioux,    278,    369 

Soissons,  Count  de,  264,  286 

Souriquois,    181 

South  Point   (Anticosti),   145 

South   Sea,    11,   237,  285,   344 

Stadacona,    163,    171,    187,   197 

Stearing   Island,    132 

Stilanda,    66 

Stockfish,   22,   66,   72,  75 

Stow's   Chronicle,   76 

Sturgeon    Bay,   347 

post   at,   417 
St.  Anthony  harbour,   129 
St.    Brandan,    Island   of,    10,    15 
St.   Charles  River,    161,  237 
St.    Cosme,   missionary,   406 
Ste.  Anne's,  portage,  265 
Ste.   Catherine,    124 
Ste.    Croix    (Etchemins)    River,    243 
Ste.  Croix  (St.  Charles)   River,   161, 

190 
Ste.  Croix  (village),  236 
St.    Elmo    Islands,    in 
St.  Francis  River,   166,  257,  411 
St.  Francis  Xavier  mission,  328 
^  329-   347 

St.    Esprit    mission,    308,    322,    329, 
^  403^ 

Ste.  Genevieve  Island,  155 
Ste.  Marie  mission,  308 
Ste.   Suzanne  River,  257 
Ste.   Therese,    327 
St.  Helen's  Island,  265 
St.    Ignace    mission,    337,    349 

Island,    261 
St.  Jean  de  Luz,  65,  226 
St.  John,  haven,   79 

(Prince  Edward  Island),  239, 
415 

Island  (Cape  Breton),  32,  57, 
.104,    115 

River,   242,    416,   421 
St.    John's,    Newfoundland,    79,    224 
St.  Johns,  Que.,  258 
St.    Joseph's    Island,    303,    313 

River,   361 
St.  Julian,   Bay  of,    132 

canal   of,    105 
St.      Lawrence,     Gulf     and     River, 
exploration    of,    83,    115,    148,    155 

basin,    exploration   of,    363    et 
seq. 

valley,  401  eUseq. 
St.  Louis  River,  363,  405 
St.  Lunario,  Bay  of,  140 
St.  Lusson,   Daumont  de,  339 


INDEX 


451 


St.  Martin,   142 

St.   Mary's,   Bay,    108,  242 

Islands,    154 

mission,    329 

on-the-Wye,   313 
St.    Maurice    River,    170,    237,    283, 

379 
St.   Pantaleon,   Archipelago  of,  84 
St.   Paul's  Island,   177 
St.  Peter,  Strait  of,   146 
St.   Peters,    no,  417 
St.   Pierre,  84 

Count   de,   422 

Island,   137 
St.  Sauveur,  251 
St.   Servan,   129 
St.    Simon,   Denys  de,   385 
St.    Sulpice,    Seminary    of,    330,    350 
Suite,    Benjamin,   232 
Summit   Lake,   325 
Susquehanna  River,  293 
Susquehannocks,   276 
Sydney  harbour,   420 


Tabagie,  268 
Table  Mountain,  177 
Tadoussac,  223,  231,  385,  391 
Taignoagny,    144,    159,    198 

Talon,   Intendant,  328  ^. 

Terceira,  48,  69         •"-•'^"— " 

Terra  Corterealis,  67 

Terra  Verde,  49 

Tessouat,   268 

Thaumur  de  la   Source,  missionary, 

406 
Thevet,    188,    204 
Thorne,   Robert,  41,  75 
Three    Rivers,    170,    232,    237,    296, 

316.   379 
Ticonderoga,   67,    109 
Toanche,  295 
"Tobacco,    1 7 1 

nation,  256,   282,  314 
Tonty,  Henri  de,  405 
Tordesillas,    Treaty    of,    7,    30,    47, 

84,   100,   196 
Toronto,   293,  414 
Totunagay,    199,    218 
Toudamans,    171,    184 
Toutes  Isles,  129,  149 
Tracy,  Marquis  de,  328 


Traverse,  The,    160 
Trent,   River,   276 
Trepassy,   222 
Trouve,   Abbe,   331 
Tuscarawas  River,  408 


Ulpius  globe,  95 
Ungava  Bay,  393 
Utrecht,   Treaty   of,   85,   417 

Vallard's  map,  222 

Vaudreuil,  338 

Ventadour,    Duke   de,    286 

Verde,   Cape,  47 

Vermilion    Sea,    12,    313,    342,   344 

Verrazano,     Juan,     81,     87     et    seq., 

118,    215 

Hieronimus  de,  94 

sea  of,  95 
Verreau,  Abbe,  pi,   193 
Vespucci,   Amerigo,    14,   92 
Vianna,  82 

Viegas,    Caspar,    27,    108,    114 
Viel,  Father  Nicholas,  296 
Vignau,  265,  270,  376 
Vimont,   Father,   303 
Vinson,   Julien,   73 
Vuelta,  Rio  de  la,   108 

Watagheistic  sound,  154 
Weimar    map,    116 
West  Indies,  29,   76,  84,  89 
Whale  harbour,    127 
Whitbourne,    Richard,    148 
White  Head,    143 
Winnebagoes,    304,    339 
Winokapau,   396 
Winsor,   Justin,   60,    184 
Wisconsin   portage,    320 
Wolfenbuttel    map,     116 
Wood  Island,  128 
Wyandots,  257 
Wytfiiet's  map,  84,  220 

Yamaska  River,  166,  257 


Zaltieri's  map,  250 
Zeni  voyages,  66,  67 


zxao't^ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
oThis  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 

"t-w  u  LbiJh,!- 


URL     MAY28  13TJ 

MAY  1  4  1973 


REC'D  IDURl 


MAR    9  1984 


Form  L9— Series  444 


UNIYERSITY  OF  CALIFORKU 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 

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